MONDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Moscow: "A bomber strode into the international arrivals hall at Moscow's busiest airport on Monday afternoon and set off an enormous explosion, witnesses and Russian officials said, leaving bodies strewn in a smoke-filled terminal while bystanders scrambled to get the wounded out on baggage carts. Russian authorities said at least 34 people were killed and 168 injured in the attack."

* Iraq: "Two car bombs struck Shi'ite pilgrims Monday in an Iraqi holy city, killing at least 18 people as crowds massed for religious rituals marking the end of a 40-day mourning period for the Islamic sect's most beloved saint."

* A major document leak: "Israeli-Palestinian peace talks over the past 17 years have operated at two levels, one public, the other behind closed doors. To the world and their own people, each side spoke of sacred, non-negotiable demands while in the Jerusalem hotel suites where the officials met those very demands were under negotiation. Internal Palestinian documents leaked to Al Jazeera and published this week illustrate that dichotomy." Don't miss Matt Duss' take on the story.

* Shocking violence directed at police officers: "A spate of shooting attacks on law enforcement officers has authorities concerned about a war on cops. In just 24 hours, at least 11 officers were shot."

* This is what I wanted to hear: "President Obama has decided not to endorse his deficit commission's recommendation to raise the retirement age, and otherwise reduce Social Security benefits, in Tuesday's State of the Union address, cheering liberals and drawing a stark line between the White House and key Republicans in Congress."

* It was a long-shot anyway: "Diplomatic efforts to end the eight-year-old impasse over Iran's nuclear program ran aground Saturday after Iranian officials refused to bargain with the United States and other world powers unless they first agreed to conditions including an immediate halt to economic sanctions."

* Leading officials in the Obama White House appears to have largely given up on Benjamin Netanyahu. I can't say I blame them.

* If the accounts are accurate, the treatment David House and Jane Hamsher received at the Quantico Marine Corps base yesterday was outrageous and inexcusable.

* If confirmed by the Senate, Donald B. Verrilli Jr., a White House deputy counsel, will replace Elena Kagan as solicitor general of the United States.

* Good move: "President Barack Obama on Monday announced a government wide series of 50 programs and proposals to increase support for U.S. military families." The initiatives, crafted by Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, include more counseling to prevent suicides, increased education grants, and expanded child-care assistance.

* New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) was the Republican Party's first choice to give the GOP response to the State of the Union address. He declined.

* The guy who will give the GOP response, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), doesn't seem to understand monetary policy, either.

* Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) has a problem with Muslim Americans. Imagine that.

* An important question: "How many college graduates is the United States going to need in the next few decades in order to maintain its current economic status?"

* And being Vice President doesn't mean getting out of jury duty.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

TUESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* In the wake of Tunisia, civil unrest in Egypt: "Thousands of people calling for the end of the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak clashed with riot police here in the capital and in other Egyptian cities on Tuesday, on a day of some of the most serious civil unrest in recent memory. Three people were reported killed, two protesters in the port town of Suez and a soldier who died of injuries sustained during the protests in Cairo."

* This may not be quite what it appears to be: "President Obama will call for reducing the deficit during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, proposing a five-year freeze on non-defense government spending, officials said."

* Not the news we were hoping for: "Home prices slipped in nearly every major metropolitan area in November, with a few cities hitting their lowest levels since prices peaked about four years ago, according to a closely watched index released Tuesday."

* Federal courts in Arizona were in bad enough shape before, but given Judge John Roll's tragic death in the recent Tucson shootings, the courts have no choice but to declare a judicial emergency and walk away from its own rules about speedy trials. Maybe Senate Republicans could, I don't know, let the chamber vote on some judicial nominees or something.

* In the 1990s, congressional Republicans cultivated a real hatred for the United Nations. It's apparently getting worse.

* Remember that 2008 crash that very nearly destroyed the global economy? It was entirely preventable.

* Carol Browner, the White House's coordinator for energy and climate change policy, is poised to leave her post. Browner's intended role leading a push for action on the climate crisis didn't come together, and with her departure, progress will be even less likely.

* On odious, but largely symbolic, vote: "The House voted on Tuesday to direct the chairman of the Budget Committee to cut federal spending to 2008 levels on a broad array of programs, as they sought to play offense in what is expected to be a long battle with the Obama administration on fiscal policy."

* Fox News makes stuff up. Try not to be surprised.

* For someone who claims to be a "constitutional conservative" and devotee of the Founding Fathers, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) is spectacularly ignorant when it comes to history.

* If the Republican Study Committee thinks the road to fiscal responsibility goes through cuts to education, it's sorely mistaken.

* For his next trick, Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) intends to gut several key environmental laws in his state.

* House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.) wants to make sure no takes away his crown for Lawmaker Who Hates Muslim Americans Most.

* And rumor has it, there will be a State of the Union address in about three-and-a-half hours. If you're inclined to stop by, I'll be here, making various live-blogging observations.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

WEDNESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' (D-Ariz.) condition has been upgraded from "serious" to "good." She was scheduled to be moved from the intensive care unit to a nearby rehabilitation center today.

* Egypt cracks down: "The Egyptian government intensified efforts to crush protests on Wednesday, decreeing a new ban on public gatherings and sending police equipped with clubs, tear gas and armored carriers against small groups that defiantly gathered in Cairo to oppose the 30- year rule of President Hosni Mubarak." There were reportedly 860 protesters arrested.

* Earlier today, the upper chamber of the Russian Parliament gave its final approval to the New START nuclear arms control treaty.

* The Congressional Budget Office expects a $1.5 trillion deficit this year. Before the right starts hyperventilating, conservatives should remember that this is their fault -- the tax cuts they demanded are driving the increase.

* Speaking of the CBO, I'm glad to see Doug Elmendorf receive a full four-year term, the Republican drive to discredit the office notwithstanding.

* A story to keep an eye on: "After two suspicious packages were delivered to Sen. John Cornyn's (R-Texas) offices in the Dallas area on Wednesday, local station CBS 11 reports that bomb squad technicians detonated the two devices."

* President Obama took his SOTU message on the road today, touring Orion Energy Systems, a power technology company, in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

* Remember the widely-mocked color-coded threat system created by the Department of Homeland Security? As of April, it's gone for good.

* It's hard to say whether this will translate into substantial GOP support, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is fully on board with the White House's infrastructure investment plans.

* Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.), easily one of Congress' most ridiculous members, wasn't impressed with last night's address: "Mr. President, you don't believe in the Constitution. You believe in socialism." What a strange man.

* One of the House Republicans' favorite talking points about Democrats and spending is demonstrably ridiculous.

* Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) makes all kinds of inexplicable decisions, but her education policies are simply impossible to defend.

* The right's fascination with politicians and teleprompters appears to be fleeting. Imagine that.

* At a House hearing today on federal regulations, Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.) asked, out loud, in front of a room full of people, "How do I explain all this gobbledygook you talk about?" And people wonder why I question the GOP caucus' intellectual capacity.

* Why, oh why, did ABC's "Good Morning America" invite Christine O'Donnell on to condemn the State of the Union address? What possible reason could there be for this?

* Fox News' Steve Doocy isn't just an odd Republican media personality, he's a thin-skinned, odd Republican media personality.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

THURSDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* As unrest continues in Egypt, ElBaradei returns to his country: "Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel laureate who has become a leading opponent of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, returned to Cairo on Thursday in an attempt to galvanize youth-led street protests that extended into a third day across the country."

* Tunisia, then Egypt, now Yemen: "Yemen, one of the Middle East's most impoverished countries and a haven for Al Qaeda militants, became the latest Arab state to witness mass protests on Thursday, as thousands of Yemenis took to the streets in the capital and other regions to demand a change in government."

* Tragedy in Uganda: "David Kato knew he was a marked man. As the most outspoken gay rights advocate in Uganda, a country where homophobia is so severe that Parliament is considering a bill to execute gay people, he had received a stream of death threats, his friends said.... On Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Kato was beaten to death with a hammer in his rough-and-tumble neighborhood." Also note, the murder generated an official White House statement, reinforcing its significance.

* Iraq: "A car bomb exploded outside a funeral tent Thursday in a mainly Shiite area of Baghdad, killing at least 48 people -- the latest in a wave of attacks that has triggered fury over the government's inability to stop the bloodshed."

* A sharp and painful reversal: "The number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose sharply last week as snowstorms in some parts of the country forced companies to lay off workers. Applications surged by a seasonally adjusted 51,000 to 454,000, the highest level since late October."

* How well is GM doing? It's withdrawing its application for $14.4 billion in federal loans to upgrade its manufacturing operations.

* On a related note, Republicans were wrong about Chrysler, too.

* Major White House staffing announcements are underway, including Jay Carney replacing Robert Gibbs as press secretary.

* This should be interesting: "President Obama has renominated Donald Berwick to be administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a pivotal position in implementing the president's health care law."

* House Speaker John Boehner is walking back his own Social Security policy.

* Bush/Cheney took unprecedented steps to undermine the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Obama is putting things right.

* There are ways to improve college investments.

* Right-wing bloggers are accusing White House speechwriters of plagiarism in the SOTU. James Joyner didn't love the speech, but he knows nonsensical attacks when he sees them.

* Similarly, Obama didn't come up with "Win the future." Neither did Gingrich. Let it go, conservatives.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

FRIDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Egypt: "After a day of increasingly violent protests throughout Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak ordered the military into the streets to reinforce police struggling to contain one of the most serious challenges to his long and autocratic rule. The president also imposed an overnight curfew nationwide, but fighting continued on the streets of Cairo, the capital, and smoke from fires blanketed one of the city's main streets along the Nile. The ruling party's offices were in flames at nightfall and Reuters reported looting at the burning complex."

* As I'm getting ready to publish this, Mubarak is on Egyptian television, and he's actually taking credit for the protests and the freedoms enjoyed the protestors. In other words, he's spewing madness.

* In case you're wondering, the treasures in Cairo's Egyptian Museum, home to a huge number of priceless antiquities, are safe for now.

* Afghanistan: "A bomb blast Friday at a Kabul supermarket that's popular with foreigners killed at least eight people, including three foreign nationals, police and witnesses said. The Taliban immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, and said it was directed at the head of a U.S. security contractor that's operating in Afghanistan."

* Mark Doms scrutinizes the latest domestic GDP numbers, and finds plenty to be encouraged by.

* Another nut makes violent threats targeting the office of a congressional Democrat. This time, the target was Rep. Joe Donnelly's (D-Ind.) office. The nut was arrested by the FBI and facing federal criminal charges.

* Congressional Republicans seem to think they understand the debt issues in Ireland and Britain. They really don't.

* Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) realizes filibuster reform is dead, at least for a long while, in the Senate, but he still hopes to make progress through the courts. (For the record, I think it's highly unlikely the courts would even agree to hear the case -- the judiciary won't want to weigh in on how a legislative branch shapes its rules.)

* The Washington Post op-ed page has published some doozies, but today's piece arguing for President Obama to pardon Tom DeLay was surprisingly ridiculous.

* The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto is still arguing that liberal women hate Sarah Palin because she's a "threat to their sexual identity." I thought it was dumb enough when he put it in print last week, but now he's repeated the line on national television.

* Has anyone ever had a worse memory than disgraced former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales? It's like the guy suffered some kind of head trauma.

* Apparently, today's college freshmen are so stressed, they're just "overmedicated, tightly-wound balls of tension and fear."

* Bill O'Reilly thinks it's wrong to compare American political opponents to Nazis -- unless he finds his American political opponents offensive, in which case it's fine. He may want to think through this argument a little more, though it's unlikely he'll do so.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

MONDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Egypt: "The political forces aligned against President Hosni Mubarak appeared to strengthen sharply Monday when the Army said for the first time that it would not fire on the protesters who have convulsed Egypt for a week demanding his resignation. The announcement was shortly followed by the government's first offer to talk to the protest leaders. Egypt's new vice president said on state television that he had been authorized to open a dialogue with the opposition for constitutional and political reforms."

* Some economic fallout from the uprising: "Political turbulence in Egypt is casting a pall on global financial markets and creating new risks for the shaky world economy in the months ahead. Higher prices for oil and food, a problem intensified by the Egyptian uprising, could cause further unrest in the Muslim world. Analysts also are concerned that movement could be restricted through the Suez Canal, controlled by Egypt and a crucial link in world trade."

* Oh, for crying out loud: "Fraud and mismanagement at Afghanistan's largest bank have resulted in potential losses of as much as $900 million -- three times previous estimates -- heightening concerns that the bank could collapse and trigger a broad financial panic in Afghanistan, according to American, European and Afghan officials."

* Let's just say the White House wasn't impressed with the Republican court ruling on the Affordable Care Act today.

* Consumer spending climbs higher: "Americans spent at the fastest pace in three years in 2010, boosted by a strong finish in December."

* I'd characterize this as a one-sided vote: "Southern Sudan's referendum commission says more than 99 percent of voters in the south opted for secession according to the first official primary results released since the vote was held earlier this month."

* Income inequality in Egypt is a real problem. As it turns out, though, income inequality is actually worse in the United States right now.

* In an apparent terrorist plot, Roger Stockham was arrested last week after police found him with explosives in the trunk of his car in the parking lot of the Islamic Center of America, a Dearborn, Michigan, mosque.

* Former Sen. Evan Bayh becomes a lobbyist. Try not to be surprised.

* A far-right blogger, Paul Mirengoff of Powerline, blasted the Native American invocation at the recent memorial service in Tucson, despite working at a law firm with American Indian clients. As part of the fallout, Mirengoff is no longer a part of the prominent right-wing blog.

* Are America's state universities too cheap? Actually, no, they're not.

* And Richmond Ramsey tackles a common contemporary problem: an inability to have reasonable conversations with older relatives who watch Fox News. Ramsey labels it "Fox Geezer Syndrome," which is actually a pretty good name for it.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

TUESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Political pressures intensify throughout the Arab world: "King Abdullah II of Jordan fired his government in a surprise move on Tuesday, in the face of a wave of demands of public accountability sweeping the Arab world and bringing throngs of demonstrators to the streets of Egypt."

* The U.S. manufacturing sector had a good month in January, which made Wall Street pretty happy.

* In light of the ambiguities in yesterday's court ruling, Wisconsin's Republican attorney general has decided he no longer has to enforce the provisions of the Affordable Care Act. A spokesperson for the state AG's office refused to explain what this might mean for Wisconsin families.

* Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is aware of Republican plans that include "privatizing or eliminating Social Security," but as far as he's concerned, such plans are "off the table."

* In a bit of a surprise, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) agreed today to a two-year moratorium on earmarks. The position puts Inouye at odds with Reid.

* Illinois takes a step forward on civil rights, approving a bill making civil unions legal for same-sex couples in this state.

* As a rule, copying and pasting materials from an anti-gay hate group, and including them in a federal court ruling, strikes me as a bad idea.

* The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) appears to have a legitimate shot this year.

* Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), who, for some unknown reason, is the new Republican chair of the House Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness, can't wait to cut education funding. Particularly vulnerable: low income students who go to college thanks to Pell Grants.

* I can't think of a reason to pay close attention to the political views of politicians' kids. They're entitled to their opinions, and I'm glad when they reach the right conclusions, but they hardly seem newsworthy.

* And Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), in an apparent bid to deal with the controversy surrounding his all-white cabinet, has named an African-American staffer as his Director of Minority Affairs. That's a start, I guess.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

WEDNESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Clashes in Egypt grow increasingly violent: "The Egyptian government struck back at its opponents on Wednesday, unleashing waves of pro-government provocateurs armed with clubs, stones, rocks and knives in and around Tahrir Square in a concerted effort to rout the protesters who have called for an end to President Hosni Mubarak's near-30-year rule."

* The White House has lost patience with Mubarak. Referencing President Obama's call for a transition, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters today, "Now means now."

* Journalists targeted in Cairo: "As chaos gripped central Tahrir Square in Cairo on Wednesday, journalists covering the scene on the ground found themselves the targets of violence and intimidation by demonstrators chanting slogans in favor of President Hosni Mubarak. One prominent American television correspondent, Anderson Cooper of CNN, was struck in the head repeatedly."

* With the region on edge, Yemen's longtime president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, announced a series of concessions, including his departure and a pledge that his son would not be his successor.

* Cyclone Yasi, packing extraordinary winds up to 186 mph, batters northeastern Australia.

* Judge Roger Vinson's decision on the Affordable Care Act was so wrong on so many levels that the Center for American Progress put together a fascinating interactive graphic, detailing every error of fact and judgment, page by page.

* On a related note, Wisconsin's Republican A.G. is walking back his refusal to enforce the law, while Florida's Republican administration is sending back federal funds in light of the ruling.

* Conservatives won't like it, but the truth is, the government already regulates inactivity, and has for years.

* President Obama signs New START, ending the treaty process.

* It appears the Gulf of Mexico will recover from the BP by the end of 2012, which is faster than many people expected.

* Barbara Morrill does what I should have done yesterday -- make a cool chart documenting the media's interest in health care court rulings.

* Fox News ran a Rupert Murdoch infomercial today instead of covering events in Egypt.

* Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) wants to cut U.S. aid to Israel. Senate Democrats push back.

* Michael Kinsley made me laugh out loud with this one.

* How for-profit schools keep the federal dollars flowing.

* Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) had one unfilled cabinet post, and he finally found an African-American official to join his team.

* Bill O'Reilly doesn't understand how climate change doesn't prevent snowstorms in winter. Al Gore explains it to him.

* And best wishes to Glenn Greenwald, who's out of the hospital and on the mend. Here's to a speedy recovery, Glenn.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

THURSDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Violence rages in Egypt: "Protesters and government supporters fought in a second day of rock-throwing battles at a central Cairo square while more lawlessness spread around the city. New looting and arson erupted."

* The attacks on journalists are astounding: "Security forces and gangs chanting in favor of the Egyptian government hunted down journalists at their offices and in the hotels where many had taken refuge on Thursday in a widespread and overt campaign of intimidation aimed at suppressing reports from the capital. By evening, it appeared that none of the major broadcasters were able to provide live footage of Tahrir Square, the epicenter of antigovernment protests."

* It's surprising, but the Mubarak government still has some high-profile American backers on the right, including conservative media figures and Republican members of Congress.

* A step in the right direction: "Applications for jobless benefits decreased by 42,000 to 415,000 in the week ended Jan. 29, Labor Department figures showed today."

* Taking the message on the road: "President Obama brought a message of economic innovation and clean energy to this key swing state on Thursday, even as his administration continued to grapple with the rapidly changing uprising in Egypt. In a speech at Pennsylvania State University, Mr. Obama promised new tax incentives, government investment and revamped regulations for energy efficiency."

* Bernanke at the National Press Club: "The economy is poised to grow more rapidly this year, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Thursday, dismissing fears that rising fuel prices will trigger broad-based inflation. But he stressed that it will still take several years before the unemployment rate comes down to normal levels. "

* It's heartening to hear Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' (D-Ariz.) condition continues to improve.

* Last year, a bipartisan group of senators worked for months to pass a resolution calling for greater freedom and democracy in Egypt. Thanks to secret holds, it never reached the floor.

* The White House White Board is back. In this edition, we see Austan Goolsbee, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, talk up the "Startup America" initiative for U.S. entrepreneurs.

* Ted Frier makes the case than when it comes to risking default on U.S. debt, there's a "method to GOP madness."

* For now, it looks like the Pell Grant program will be fully funded. If that sticks, it's good news.

* And the right is back to talking about impeaching President Obama again. It's been weeks since conservatives banged this drum; I was starting to think they'd forgotten about it.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

FRIDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* New mass protests in the streets of Cairo: "Cracks in the Egyptian establishment's support for President Hosni Mubarak began to appear Friday as jubilant crowds of hundreds of thousands packed the capital's central Tahrir Square to call for his ouster, this time unmolested by either security police or uniformed Mubarak loyalists."

* The White House's not-so-subtle hints to the Mubarak government: "The Obama administration, encouraged by the relative calm in Egypt on Friday, is urgently trying to persuade opposition groups to participate in a dialogue with Vice President Omar Suleiman in a meeting scheduled for Saturday morning."

* A federal judge in Mississippi, appointed by George W. Bush, dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act -- yet another legal win for the law -- but it wasn't on the merits. District Judge Keith Starrett rejected a lawsuit because the plaintiffs lacked standing. At least 14 lawsuits have been tossed on procedural grounds. (thanks to reader V.S. for the tip)

* How can the unemployment rate go down when so few jobs are being created? Annie Lowrey offers an explanation.

* Good advice: "The Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, warned Congressional Republicans on Thursday not to "play around with" a coming vote to raise the government's legal borrowing limit." He added that lawmakers shouldn't view the debt ceiling as a "bargaining chip."

* Good question: "Why is Live Action doctoring its Planned Parenthood audio?"

* Remember the 1099 problem in the Affordable Care Act? A fix was approved this week in the Senate, 81 to 17.

* Rush Limbaugh yesterday mocked violence towards journalists at the hands of Egyptian thugs. Veteran war correspondents and those who monitor journalist safety overseas were not amused.

* The law needs to be enforced: "New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday announced the results of an undercover investigation into a gun show in Arizona -- and that those results show just how simple it is to buy a gun there with minimal oversight."

* Is the famously lucrative Master of Business Administration just another useless, overpriced degree? It's a reasonable question.

* "Press Secretary School" actually sounds pretty fun to me: "Incoming White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, in preparation to replace Robert Gibbs, has been conducting mock press briefings, with press staffers such as Gibbs and deputies Bill Burton and Josh Earnest conducting the grillings."

* I'm sorry to see Open Left go, and I wish the best for Chris Bowers and the rest of the team that did such great work at the site over the last several years.

* The "dumbest narrative of the year so far"? That's an easy one -- Politico has now run two separate pieces on First Lady Michelle Obama praising the barbecue in Charlotte, N.C., which the publication insists on calling a "gaffe."

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

MONDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* On the streets of Cairo: "With Egypt's revolt entering a third week, many parts of Cairo appeared to be resuming normal life on Monday: A.T.M.'s dispensed much-needed cash, shops and banks were staffed -- though some kept their doors shut to customers -- and the city's drivers were snarled in a vast traffic jam.... Still, signs that the revolt had not ended were rife. Plans to reopen the stock exchange were postponed until Sunday. The army kept columns of armored personnel carriers patrolling the streets, and burnt-out vehicles remained in various squares."

* Talks in Egypt progressed over the weekend: "The main Egyptian opposition groups eased up on their insistence that President Hosni Mubarak step down immediately, agreeing instead on Sunday to join in talks toward overhauling the country's political system at a more gradual pace while Mubarak remains in office." Mubarak's newly appointed vice president, Omar Suleiman, led the talks, which included leaders from the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement.

* Following a successful independence referendum, Southern Sudan is poised to become the world's newest country. The White House announced today it will recognize Southern Sudan as a sovereign, independent state in July.

* The votes are slated for tonight: "In what Senate Democrats are hoping is a sign of forthcoming comity around the politics of filling judicial vacancies, Republicans have agreed not to block the confirmation of three nominees who had been stalled in the last Congress."

* President Obama takes his case to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of his most aggressive adversaries: "In his most overt effort yet to mend ties with the nation's business community, President Obama on Monday pledged to make government an ally to companies as they emerge from the worst economic downturn in generations."

* Effective today, the arms control treaty known as New START takes effect in the U.S. and Russia.

* Keith Olbermann will announce his next career move tomorrow. No one seems to have any idea what he'll say.

* Former President George W. Bush was forced to cancel a planned trip to Switzerland, upon learning he might be arrested for human rights abuses upon his arrival. [Updated with revised link]

* Left with a dwindling budget and a tiny staff, it appears the Democratic Leadership Council will permanently close its doors, perhaps as early as next week.

* As part of the debate over the individual health care mandate, the new question du jour on the right is whether Americans could be forced to eat broccoli. Andrew Sabl considers whether this makes any sense.

* On a related note, Sabl also ponders the libertarian approach to budgeting, and comes away shaking his head.

* A significant trade mission to India gets underway this week.

* Why is college students' emotional health the worst it's been in 20 years?

* And finally, freshman Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.) actually published this yesterday: "When I was a child, President Ronald Reagan was the nice man who gave us jelly beans when we visited the White House. I didn't know then, but I know it now: The jelly beans were much more than a sweet treat that he gave out as gifts. They represented the uniqueness and greatness of America -- each one different and special in its own way, but collectively they blended in harmony." (Dear Hill staffers, do not let your bosses actually write their own op-eds.)

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

TUESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Protests in Cairo are not dying down: "With a new wave of demonstrations in Tahrir Square on Tuesday -- by some measures the largest anti-government protests in the two-week uprising -- Egyptians loudly rejected their government's approach to political change and renewed their demands for the immediate resignation of President Hosni Mubarak."

* In fact, today's protests were energized by the words of Wael Ghonim: "Protesters thronged Cairo's Tahrir Square on Tuesday in one of Egypt's largest anti-government demonstrations to date as their movement was energized by a television interview given by a Google executive who for two weeks had been detained by Egyptian security officials."

* On the one-month anniversary of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) being shot, her husband noted today that the recovery process is a long one, but she's "recovering at lightning speed considering her injury."

* I think we saw this coming: "House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says upcoming spending legislation will forbid the White House from using any federal dollars to pay to implement the health care law."

* Congress will never go for it, but the White House budget plan will call for aiding struggling states: "The Obama administration is proposing short-term relief to states saddled with unemployment insurance debt, coupled with a delayed increase in the income level used to tax employers for the aid to the jobless." This would be wise, which is why the GOP will kill it.

* In developments resembling a miracle, the Senate actually confirmed three pending federal district court nominees. The vacancies on the federal bench, however, remain at a crisis point.

* Rep. Bill Posey (R), a right-wing Floridian, is comfortable with accepting government-subsidized health insurance because he's not sure if he's a federal employee. And the level of intellectualism found in the Republican House caucus slips just a little lower.

* Olbermann finds a new home: "Less than a month after leaving MSNBC, liberal lightning rod Keith Olbermann said Tuesday he's headed to Current TV, the public affairs channel launched six years ago by former Vice President Al Gore." Olbermann was named chief news officer at the network, and will have a prime-time talk show.

* The only thing worse than Donald Rumsfeld's tenure as Defense Secretary is reading Rumsfeld's memoir about his tenure as Defense Secretary.

* Another embarrassment for Fox News' Bill Sammon, with the latest in a series of memo leaks.

* Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) ran an op-ed on economic policy that's so wildly, shockingly wrong, it's upsetting that Politico even published it.

* I know most of the country doesn't want to hear this, but Ronald Reagan just wasn't a very good president.

* College staffers are suffering, too.

* Maine's buffoonish governor, Paul LePage (R), refused to let officials from the state Fire Marshal's Office testify on a fireworks proposal because he doesn't like their professional judgment.

* And White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was asked yesterday to respond to Sarah Palin's weekend criticism of administration policy on Egypt. "I read that answer several times, and I still really don't know what she's saying," he said.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

WEDNESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Egypt: "Labor strikes and worker protests that flared across Egypt on Wednesday affected post offices, textile factories and even the government's flagship newspaper, as protesters recaptured the initiative in their battle for the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak."

* The first inter-Korean dialogue in a long while didn't go well: "Military discussions between North and South Korea ended on Wednesday with no improvement in their badly strained relations and no agreement about whether to hold more substantive talks in the future. A Defense Ministry official in Seoul said the talks ended abruptly at 2:30 p.m. when the North Korean delegation 'unilaterally walked away from the table and out of the meeting room.'"

* Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) has recovered to the point that she's begun speaking again. It's "another significant milestone in her recovery."

* Congressional Republicans today grilled Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke over inflation that doesn't appear to exist. I can only imagine what the economy would be like if the GOP cared a fraction as much about unemployment.

* I'm still not sure why this isn't a no-brainer: "The Obama administration wants to invest $53 billion in high-speed and intercity rail service in the next six years, expanding a signature transportation initiative it already has targeted with $10.5 billion. The plan to spend billions more on a vast high-speed-rail network was cast by the administration as vital to keeping the United States competitive with world markets that already use the technology."

* The GOP's outrageous "forcible rape" provision was removed from one anti-abortion bill, but it's still in another.

* The fact that Donald Rumsfeld has no idea what he's talking about when it comes to Saddam Hussein and weapons inspectors isn't at all encouraging.

* What do Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Republicans have in common? Among other things, they all want to see the health care mandate eliminated -- after having believed the exact opposite up until fairly recently.

* Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) seriously believes having health care coverage through Medicaid is "actually worse" than being uninsured.

* The DCCC launches a good idea: a website directed at Speaker Boehner asking, "When are the jobs?"

* Glenn Beck isn't quite done antagonizing Bill Kristol.

* It seems pretty hard to believe that the growing number of college graduates in Egypt is the driving force for the recent uprising.

* And in South Carolina, state Sen. Robert Ford (D) was arguing against a new immigration law this week because "brothers" don't work as hard as "Mexicans." He said, Ford argued, "I know brothers -- and I'm talking about black guys -- they are not going to do the dirty work at Boeing, to do that hauling and all that building, that dirty work... A brother is going to find ways to take a break." What a moron. [Update: I had originally identified Ford as a Republican. Apologies -- he's a Democrat, though that doesn't change the idiotic qualities of the remark.]

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

THURSDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* In Egypt, Vice President Omar Suleiman "called on protesters to end their demonstrations and stop listening to foreign media reports on the unrest in the country." This isn't going to work. Call it a hunch.

* Pakistan: A suicide bomber linked to the Pakistani Taliban attacked soldiers during morning exercises at an army training camp in the northwest Thursday, killing 31 troops and wounding 42 others.

* That's more like it: "New applications for regular state unemployment-insurance benefits fell 36,000 to a seasonally adjusted 383,000 in the week ended Feb. 5, hitting the lowest level since July of 2008, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected an initial-claims level of 410,000."

* I'm always glad to hear Obama talk about infrastructure: "Declaring that 'we can't expect tomorrow's economy to take root using yesterday's infrastructure,' President Obama traveled to this snowbound town in a remote corner of Michigan on Thursday to make the case that expanding wireless access is critical to the nation's economic recovery."

* On a related note, though Republicans don't care, European and Asian nations are speeding ahead on high-speed rail networks.

* This bears watching: "On Wednesday, Pakistani TV news aired what is apparently video of Pakistani police interrogating Raymond Davis, the American who allegedly shot and killed two men in Lahore, Pakistan last month, and whose continued detention has touched off a diplomatic crisis."

* Kevin Warsh is stepping down from the Federal Reserve board. Matt Yglesias wants to replace him, but that strikes me as unlikely.

* CNN sure does hire a lot of conservatives. Its latest move includes hiring local Tea Party leader and radio talk show host Dana Loesch to appear as an on-air political analyst. (We already have a Fox News; we don't need another.)

* Honoring Nathan Bedford Forrest on Mississippi license plates strikes me as spectacularly offensive.

* Watching Frank Luntz's latest focus group on Fox News is likely to be give me nightmares for a while.

* Tort-reform Republicans are running into trouble from Tenther Republicans. Oh how I wish the GOP had more grown-ups.

* No, congressional Republicans, Medicaid is not bad for those who rely on it.

* Charging college students extra for earning extra college credits seems like a very bad idea .

* I don't think the State of the Union was written with Twitter in mind, but it's an interesting idea.

* Glenn Beck wants you to "Remember the Alamo," which he thinks was about "Mexican independence." I know he's beyond fact-checking, but did no one on this staff stop to think, "Wait, that doesn't sound right"?

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

—Steve Benen 5:30 PM February 10, 2011

http://www.washingtonmont...idual/2011_02/027948.php

FRIDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* It's "pure ecstasy" in the streets of Cairo.

* Uncertainty in the near future: "The shift leaves the military in charge of this nation of 80 million, facing insistent calls for fundamental democratic change and open elections. The military has repeatedly promised to respond to the demands of protesters. But it has little recent experience in directly governing the country, and will have to defuse demonstrations and labor strikes that have paralyzed the economy and left many of the country's institutions, including state news media and the security forces, in shambles."

* In all likelihood, even the Egyptian armed forces are unsure what the Egyptian armed forces will do next.

* Robert Gibbs held his final briefing today as White House press secretary.

* Rep. Jay Inslee (D) and Washington's state Attorney General Robert McKenna (R) have a worthwhile dispute over Affordable Care Act litigation. (Inslee is the one whose argument has merit.)

* I continue to love the White House White Board. In the latest edition, Austan Goolsbee, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, explains the National Wireless Initiative (and makes the first-ever White House reference to "angry birds").

* Is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's law firm working with "private security" companies to undermine its political opponents? ThinkProgress makes the case.

* The U.S. ambassadorship to Luxembourg appears to a job that's difficult to screw up. Cynthia Stroum seems to have found a way.

* I don't think Sarah Palin understands the "Holy Grail" metaphor.

* For-profit colleges are structurally different from most schools. That's not exactly a compliment.

* There's been no shortage of oddities at CPAC, but the guy who argued it's "logical" for the U.S. government to "monitor" Muslim Americans because of Japanese internment during WWII might deserve some kind of award for sheer madness.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

MONDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Iran: "Hundreds of riot police officers deployed in key locations in central Tehran and other major Iranian cities on Monday, beating protesters and firing tear gas to thwart opposition marches that marked the most significant street protests since the end of 2009, news reports and witnesses' accounts from Iran said."

* Egypt: "Egypt's military leaders have told a coalition of young opposition leaders that they plan to convene a panel of distinguished jurists to submit a package of constitutional amendments within 10 days for approval in a national referendum within two months, setting a breakneck schedule for the transition to civilian rule."

* Egypt's generals yesterday imposed martial law and dissolved parliament. These were not unexpected developments.

* It's genuinely amusing to see Egypt's state media quickly shift gears from pro-government propaganda to celebrating Mubarak's ouster.

* New waves of unrest in Yemen and Bahrain.

* Iraq: "A suicide bomber blew himself up Saturday near a crowd of Shiite pilgrims at a bus depot in the northern Iraqi city of Samarra, killing 38 people and wounding scores of others, police and officials said."

* Afghanistan: "Taliban fighters deploying car bombs and rocket-propelled grenades killed at least 17 members of the Afghan security forces and two civilians in the southern city of Kandahar on Saturday, the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement."

* Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) union-busting efforts are not going unchallenged.

* OMB Director Jack Lew suggested to reporters today that there's some kind of agreement in place with congressional Republicans not to shut down the government. I haven't heard this elsewhere, and I find this rather hard to believe.

* Remember the sophisticated and potentially deadly bomb found last month in Spokane? Those responsible for the attempted domestic terrorism remain at large.

* My best wishes to Andrew Sullivan as he returns from a lengthy absence due to illness. Now, Andrew, if you wouldn't mind correcting the doc-fix error you made today....

* Ave Maria University, the struggling -- and extremely conservative -- Catholic university in Naples, Florida, is under new management. Its new president will be Jim Towey, who's best known for running the Bush administration's legally-dubious faith-based schemes.

* South Carolina State Sen. Lee Bright (R), who apparently has too much time on his hands, wants the Palmetto State to create its own currency. Seriously.

* Former U.S. Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod has filed suit against right-wing activist Andrew Breitbart. For his part, Breitbart is changing his story as to why he published the deceptive video that ruined Sherrod's career in the first place.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

TUESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Bahrain: "Thousands of demonstrators poured into this nation's symbolic center, Pearl Square, late Tuesday in a raucous rally that again demonstrated the power of popular movements that are transforming the political landscape of the Middle East."

* Iran: "A day after the most significant street protests in Iran since the end of the 2009 uprising there, members of the Iranian Parliament called on Tuesday for the two most prominent opposition leaders to be prosecuted and sentenced to death for stirring unrest."

* Egypt: "The military officers governing Egypt convened a panel Tuesday to revise the country's constitution that included both a distinguished Coptic Christian jurist and a member of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, offering the first significant evidence of the military's commitment to moving the country toward democratic rule."

* Secretary of State Hillary Clinton makes clear that the foreign-aid cuts proposed by House Republicans, if approved, will prove "devastating to our national security, will render us unable to respond to unanticipated disasters and will damage our leadership around the world."

* Would the Senate approve the House's proposed cuts? According to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), no.

* Chevron's guilty: "An Ecuadorian judge on Monday ordered Chevron Corp. to pay $8.6 billion to clean up oil pollution in the country's rain forest in what is believed to be the largest-ever judgment in an environmental case. And if the U.S. oil giant doesn't publicly apologize in the next 15 days, the judge ordered the company to pay twice that amount." As far as affected farmers are concerned, it's not enough.

* Pushing back against union-busting efforts: "Demonstrators gathered in large numbers at the Wisconsin state Capitol on Tuesday, to protest Republican Gov. Scott Walker's budget proposal to help close the state's shortfall by removing nearly all collective bargaining rights for public employees. As the Wisconsin State Journal reports, over 10,000 protestors gathered at the state Capitol building Tuesday, with thousands also crowded inside the building itself."

* Slowly but surely, this story keeps getting more interesting: "A feud between a security contracting firm and a group of guerrilla computer hackers has spilled over onto K Street, as stolen e-mails reveal plans for a dirty-tricks-style campaign against critics of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce." The L.A. Times is picking up on this, too.

* Today's single most ridiculous headline from a legitimate news outlet: "Obama's budget would add $13 trillion to national debt." Is this some sort of joke? Did Fox News staffers invade the McClatchy offices?

* Greg Sargent speaks to the "justifiable homicide" lawmaker in South Dakota, who presented a defense for his bill that appears to clear the way for killing abortion doctors.

* Remember Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, codenamed "Curveball"? He told the Bush administration Iraq had a secret biological weapons program. He was lying. (thanks to A.S. for the tip)

* I don't mind that Thomas DiLorenzo, an economics professor at Loyola University Maryland, appears to be a nut. I mind that he was called to deliver congressional testimony last week.

* A good slogan: "Put women and children last."

* And MoveOn.org has a powerful new ad responding to Republican efforts to limit women's reproductive rights. It's likely to generate some attention.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

WEDNESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Bahrain: "Tens of thousands of demonstrators poured into Pearl Square here late into the night as Shiite opposition leaders issued assurances they were not being influenced by Tehran and were not interested in transforming the monarchy into a religious theocracy like the Islamic Republic in Iran."

* Egypt: "Egyptians staged protests and strikes Wednesday over a host of grievances from paltry wages to toxic waste dumping, defying the second warning in three days from the nation's military rulers to halt all labor unrest at a time when the economy is staggering."

* The Fed is slightly more optimistic about 2011, at least as far as growth is concerned.

* A very big deal in Madison: "Thousands of people descended on the Wisconsin state Capitol for a second day of powerful protests Wednesday as key votes approached on Republican Gov. Scott Walker's plan to strip away the collective bargaining rights of public employees."

* Josh Marshall offers some context: "If Gov. Walker (R) is able to push through big, big changes to collective bargaining rights and makes it stick, that will be picked up in many other states and it will shape perceptions of the public mood going into the 2012 election -- from the top of the ticket all the way down to the bottom. On the other hand, if he gets shut down and the idea takes hold that he overreached, that will have similarly widespread effects in other states as well as in shaping the political terrain going into 2012."

* Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) downplayed the prospects of a government shutdown in a Fox News interview. Here's hoping he's right.

* With Republicans bringing a machete to the budget, and aiming for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Sesame Street crowd and their Democratic allies are speaking up.

* The Senate voted late yesterday to extend three counterterrorism provisions of the Patriot Act for 90 days. The vote was 86 to 12.

* Senate Dems have embraced White House messaging, and today released the caucus' "Winning the Future" agenda. It's not a bad set of ideas, but the list is more a vision statement than a to-do list -- there's no way the narrow Senate majority could overcome GOP filibusters, better yet a Republican-led House.

* Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) won't allow the Senate to vote on a nominee to head the Fish and Wildlife Service until the administration does more to make oil companies happy. Have I mentioned lately that the Senate is broken?

* The guy in South Dakota with the "justifiable homicide" bill is apparently feeling quite a bit of heat, and is prepared to make some meaningful changes to his proposal.

* David Roberts flags a poll showing public opposition to congressional Republicans' attacks on the EPA.

* Former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) is getting back in the game and launching a liberal political action committee.

* President Obama wants America to be the country in the world with the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020. Is that likely to happen? Not really.

* For what it's worth, Paul Waldman, I always really liked The Gadflyer.

* I have no idea what Nir Rosen was thinking, but there's no excuse for such ugliness in the wake of the assault on Laura Logan.

* On a related note, Jim Hoft blaming Logan for her assault is just disgusting.

* I liked this line from Greg Sargent: "[I]f Fox's explicit goal has been to create a self-sustaining, self-perpetuating alternate reality, as many have alleged, it appears that when it comes to Americans' views of Muslims, the network may be succeeding brilliantly."

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

THURSDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Bahrain: "The army took control of [Manama] on Thursday, except at the main hospital, where thousands of people gathered screaming, crying, collapsing in grief, just hours after the police opened fire with birdshot, rubber bullets and tear gas on pro-democracy demonstrators camped in Pearl Square."

* John McCain boasted the other day that Iraq is unaffected by regional protests. He's wrong: "Unrest continued to spread in Iraq on Thursday, with new protests erupting in several cities and reports from law enforcement officials that private security guards in a city in Kurdistan fired on a group of protesters who tried to storm the political offices of the region's leader."

* Libya: "Exiled opponents of the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, said on Thursday that protests mirroring the turmoil in the Arab world had broken out in several parts of the country on a so-called Day of Rage to challenge his 41-year-old iron rule -- the region's longest."

* Every time we dip below 400k, it inches back up: "The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits edged up last week, the government said Thursday."

* A much better number: "The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said its index of manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region nearly doubled between January and February."

* Yet another pathetic display: "Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell says he will not enact the federal health care overhaul after a judge in Florida struck down the law as unconstitutional. "

* The House approved a three-month extension of three Patriot Act surveillance authorities earlier, sending the bill to the White House for the president's signature.

* Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) suggested the government could save money be ending Pentagon sponsorship from NASCAR teams. She's now facing death threats.

* The smartest piece on the budget fight you'll read today, from the estimable E.J. Dionne, Jr.

* Georgia Republicans are desperate to cut spending, especially on infrastructure. Apparently, federal funding to expand and deepen the Savannah Port doesn't count.

* Right-wing lies about health care are nothing new, but Sen. John Barrasso's (R-Wyo.) speech on the subject the other day was a tour de force in shameless dishonesty. It's almost as if he created a list of common lies, and then strung them together.

* If college students aren't happy with budget cuts, they're really going to have to do more than remain silent.

* As if he didn't have enough trouble, Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) lashed out at a police officer who'd pulled him over, calling the policeman an "idiot" three times. The officer now wants an in-person apology.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

FRIDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Firing on civilians in Bahrain: "Government forces opened fire on hundreds of mourners marching toward Pearl Square on Friday, sending people running away in panic amid the boom of concussion grenades. But even as the people fled, at least one helicopter sprayed fire on them and a witness reported seeing mourners crumpling to the ground."

* Libya: "Thousands gathered Friday for a fourth day of demonstrations in Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city, in an unprecedented challenge to the mercurial 41-year reign of Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi."

* Yemen: "Anti-government protesters clashed with loyalists of President Ali Abdullah Saleh on the streets of the capital for the eighth straight day Friday, hurling insults and chunks of concrete at one another. But the loyalists - along with Yemeni security forces, who fired shots in the air - managed to swiftly disperse the crowds."

* Egypt: "On foot and in battered taxis, tired minivans and lurching buses, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians streamed toward Tahrir Square on Friday, reaffirming their victory over the country's old repressive government and their determination to build a new free one."

* Good for the White House: "The Obama administration rescinded most of a federal regulation Friday designed to protect health workers who refuse to provide care they find objectionable on personal or religious grounds. The Health and Human Services Department eliminated nearly the entire rule put into effect by the administration of President George W. Bush during his final days in office that was widely interpreted as allowing such workers to opt out of a broad range of medical services, such as providing the emergency contraceptive Plan B, treating gay men and lesbians and prescribing birth control to single women."

* Senate, with broad bipartisan support, easily passed an aviation reauthorization bill last night. The final vote was 87 to 8.

* Net neutrality: "House Republicans on Thursday moved to block the Federal Communications Commission from enforcing new rules that prohibit broadband providers from interfering with Internet traffic on their networks."

* It sounds like Mark Ekstrum has some explaining to do: "A veteran firefighter refused to respond to last month's deadly shooting spree that left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords wounded because he had different political views than his colleagues and 'did not want to be part of it,' according to internal city memos."

* I'll assume impeachment is the next step: "The chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee fires off a letter to Nancy-Ann DeParle, asking for every document related to health care negotiations -- all of them."

* Why history may be repeating itself in Wisconsin.

* Next year's CPAC hopes to drive out participants who may respect gay people. Contemporary conservatism spirals downward, just a little more.

* This story out of Pennsylvania really is stunning: "A former juvenile court judge was convicted Friday of racketeering in a case that accused him of sending youth offenders to for-profit detention centers in exchange for millions of dollars in illicit payments from the builder and owner of the lockups."

* Even some conservatives think Texas officials created a ridiculous state education curriculum.

* A worthwhile timeline: Two years of economic recovery.

* And Matt Yglesias reflects on Mike Huckabee's attitudes towards Israel: "I have no particular view on whether or not Abraham was a real historical person, but trying to view present-day political disputes as mere extensions of events that occurred thousands of years in the past isn't going to have a happy ending."

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

MONDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Libya starts to unravel: "Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi's regime showed more signs of crumbling Monday as scores of people were reportedly killed in the capital, witnesses said military helicopters shot at protesters on the ground, and the U.S. ordered non-essential diplomats to leave the North African nation. The six-day-old uprising had reached the capital, Tripoli, by Monday morning, with reports of buildings being set ablaze and looting in some neighborhoods. In Libya's second-largest city of Benghazi, anti-government demonstrators celebrated on the streets, with reports growing that the city was now under their control."

* The violence towards unarmed civilians in Libya is heartbreaking: "The faltering government of the Libyan strongman Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi struck back at mounting protests against his 40-year rule, as helicopters and warplanes besieged parts of the capital Monday, according to witnesses and news reports from Tripoli."

* How bad has it gotten for the Libyan regime? This bad: "Members of Libya's mission to the United Nations publicly repudiated Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi on Monday, calling him a genocidal war criminal responsible for mass shootings of demonstrators protesting against his four decades in power. They called upon him to resign. The repudiation, led by Libya's deputy permanent representative at a news conference at the mission's headquarters in New York, amounted to the most high-profile defection of Libyan diplomats in the anti-Qaddafi uprising that has convulsed Libya over the past week."

* Afghanistan: "A suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to an Afghan government office Monday, killing at least 30 people -- many who were waiting in line to obtain government identification cards, police said."

* A disgraced, racist Tea Party leader presents his new anti-union plan: get right-wing activists to pose as SEIU organizers and cause trouble.

* Apparently, it's still possible for pundits' love of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) to get more ridiculous.

* If it seems odd to have Democrats in the Wisconsin Senate flee to deny the chamber a quorum, remember, it's been a fairly common tactic for many years. Abraham Lincoln literally jumped out a window 170 years ago to deny a quorum in Illinois.

* Good point from Nate Silver: "Rasmussen should probably just drop the pretense that they are non-partisan."

* Concerns rise over Rep. David Wu's (D-Ore.) mental health.

* Arizona has an odd low-cost college plan: "Since the state evidently has no plans to give the public college more money (which could reduce tuition), the solution appears to be to give Arizona residents some low-quality education options."

* I couldn't care less whether Rush Limbaugh is fat, but when he goes after First Lady Michelle Obama on the air, suggesting that she's overweight, I wonder if Limbaugh's drug addiction has damaged his eyesight, too.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

TUESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* By all accounts, the streets of Tripoli are a war zone: "Libya appeared to slip further into chaos on Tuesday, as Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi vowed to 'fight until the last drop of my blood' and clashes intensified between rebels and his loyalists in the capital, Tripoli. Opposition forces claimed to have consolidated their hold over a string of cities across nearly half of Libya's 1,000 mile Mediterranean coast, leaving Colonel Qaddafi in control of just parts of the capital and some of southern and central Libya, including his hometown."

* New Zealand: "Rescue workers spent a cold, rainy night searching through rubble for survivors of a powerful earthquake that struck New Zealand's second-largest city, Christchurch, on Tuesday, killing at least 65 people."

* Markets freaked out a bit today, leading to a Saudi announcement: "Trying to calm turbulent oil markets, Saudi Arabia's oil minister said on Tuesday that the OPEC cartel was ready to pump more oil to compensate for any dropoff caused by unrest in the Middle East."

* He's usually more diplomatic: "To the shock of President Hamid Karzai's aides, Gen. David H. Petraeus suggested Sunday at the presidential palace that Afghans caught up in a coalition attack in northeastern Afghanistan might have burned their own children to exaggerate claims of civilian casualties, according to two participants at the meeting."

* It's not just Wisconsin: "Protestors packed into Ohio's State Capitol building and several thousand more gathered outside on Tuesday, as its legislature planned new hearings on a bill that would effectively end collective bargaining for state workers and dramatically reduce its power for local workers, like police officers and firefighters."

* Don't forget the anti-union push in Florida, too: "The bill would bar government employers from deducting either union dues or voluntary contributions to union political accounts."

* In Madison, a left-leaning website used by union supporters to rally protesters has been inaccessible in Wisconsin's capitol. Hmm.

* On a related note, "Americans for Prosperity" are launching an ad campaign in Wisconsin. Imagine that.

* I wish I knew why Republican governors don't like their constituents, and seem to want their state economies to suffer.

* Rep. David Wu (D) of Oregon is now being treated with medication and counseling after an "intervention" staged by his staffers.

* Terrific graphic from Jamison Foser: "People likely to be hired by CNN."

* George Will sure could use an editor.

* Post of the Day: "The Relationship between Union Membership and State Budget Deficits."

* The National Institute for Civil Discourse will be housed at the University of Arizona, and its honorary co-chairmen will be former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

* And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) is ready to see his home state of Nevada end legal prostitution, which he believes may be an impediment to economic development: "Nevada needs to be known as the first place for innovation and investment -- not as the last place where prostitution is still legal." We'll see how that goes.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

WEDNESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Libya: "Fighters loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi sought to maintain their grip on the capital, Tripoli, on Wednesday, as a growing popular uprising spread across the eastern part of the country and anti-government forces consolidated control over key Mediterranean cities."

* Oil prices: "Oil prices hit $100 per barrel for the first time since 2008, driven by growing concerns about global supplies, as Libya's Moammar Gadhafi continued to lose his grip on the oil-rich country. Similar uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt earlier this month already had markets on edge before protests escalated in Libya, which has the biggest oil reserves in Africa."

* Purple Hearts: "President Barack Obama awarded six Purple Hearts while visiting with wounded service members on Wednesday. The commander in chief met with 22 patients and their families during a midday visit to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., just outside of Washington, the White House said. Twenty-one served in Afghanistan; the other served in Iraq."

* A closer look at the Wisconsin budget: "The state's entire budget shortfall for this year -- the reason that Walker has said he must push through immediate cuts -- would be covered by the governor's relatively uncontroversial proposal to restructure the state's debt. By contrast, the proposals that have kicked up a firestorm, especially his call to curtail the collective-bargaining rights of the state's public-employees, wouldn't save any money this year."

* On a related note, Gov. Scott Walker (R) insisted the other day that he "campaigned on" his union-busting proposals, adding, "Anybody who says they are shocked on this has been asleep for the past two years." He's lying.

* The Indiana Deputy Attorney General who said he wanted to see "live ammunition" used on protesters in Wisconsin? He's been fired.

* Sens. Kerry, Franken, Cantwell, and Wyden haven't forgotten: "Four Senate Democrats wrote to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday to oppose GOP efforts to defund net neutrality rules through spending legislation."

* Fox News gets Gallup data exactly backwards, badly misleading viewers. Is the network incompetent or dishonest?

* I knew Americans paid less for gas than other countries, but I didn't appreciate how much less.

* The director of MassHealth -- the state-run Medicaid plan that insures nearly 1.3 million Massachusetts residents -- seems to think consumers would be better off with single payer. Something to keep an eye on.

* Once more, targeting those who get in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's way.

* Interesting: "A new study shows that, beyond increased voting, going to college really has no impact on engagement in the political process."

* Terry Jeffrey expresses a sentiment that's more common than some might expect among far-right activists: "It is time to drive public schools out of business."

* And on a personal note, today is, for lack of a better word, my "Blogoversary" -- I started blogging exactly eight years ago today. (My very first post in 2003 -- I kid you not -- was complaining about the guest list on "Meet the Press." I guess some things never change.) It's hard to believe I've given more than a fourth fifth of my life to do this non-traditional profession, but I continue to enjoy the work. Whether you've been reading for eight days or eight years, my most sincere thanks for the support.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

THURSDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Libya: "Thousands of mercenary and other forces struck back at a tightening circle of rebellions around the capital, Tripoli, on Thursday, trying to fend off an uprising against the 40-year rule of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, who blamed the revolt on 'hallucinogenic' drugs and Osama bin Laden."

* Late yesterday: "President Obama on Wednesday condemned Libya's violent crackdown against a widening anti-government movement, saying the 'suffering and bloodshed is outrageous, and it is unacceptable.' But Obama did not call for a change in Libya's autocratic government or announce specific sanctions that the United States would support to punish the country for actions that he said 'violate international norms and every standard of common decency.'"

* Below 400k is an encouraging number: "Fewer people requested unemployment benefits last week, pushing the four-week average of applications to its lowest level in more than two and a half years. The Labor Department says the number of laid-off workers applying for unemployment benefits dropped by 22,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 391,000." The four-week average is now at its best level since July 2008.

* Hardly a good use of police resources: "Wisconsin state troopers were dispatched Thursday to the doorsteps of some of the AWOL Democratic senators in hopes of finding at least one who would come back to allow a vote on a measure to curb the power of public-employee unions."

* On a related note, with Gov. Scott Walker (R) having admitted to considering placing troublemakers amid the crowd of protesters, the Madison police chief has some concerns.

* Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, the American three-star general in charge of training Afghan troops, reportedly used "psy-ops" techniques on U.S. dignitaries -- including members of Congress -- during the visits to Afghanistan. Gen. David Petraeus has launched an investigation, which doesn't bode well for Caldwell. The allegations are pretty serious.

* Did Fox News chairman Roger Ailes encourage Judith Regan to lie to federal investigators? There are affidavits that suggest he did, and Regan even claims to have a recording to prove it.

* One of the dumbest "controversies" in recent memory: "A Commerce Department inspector general investigation into the 'Climategate' controversy finds that government scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration did not manipulate climate change data."

* Hawaii joins the list of states to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples.

* Matt Miller considers New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's (R) candor: "For Christie to be rhapsodized for saying we need to reform entitlements without adding that federal taxes will have to rise as America ages makes him a half-truth-teller at best. And half-truths are all we have from the GOP so far."

* I'm reminded why I don't bother to read James Glassman's columns.

* It's easier for the Department of Education to want to define college credits, used to determine federal financial aid, than to actually do it.

* Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) heard Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) call for the end of legal prostitution in their home state, but he disagrees. Perhaps, given his sex scandals, he should have left this issue alone?

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.