memeorandum: 'Fat' gene found by scientists (Mark Henderson/Times of London)

11:45 AM ET, April 13, 2007

Top Items:

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Missing E-Mail May Be Related to Prosecutors — The White House said Thursday that missing e-mail messages sent on Republican Party accounts may include some relating to the firing of eight United States attorneys. — The disclosure became a fresh political problem for the White House …

Discussion: NewsHog, Threat Level, CBS News, TalkLeft, The Gun Toting Liberal™, indict dick cheney, Talking Points Memo, The Moderate Voice, Norwegianity, Gateway Pundit, Prairie Weather, The Anonymous Liberal, CorrenteWire, Los Angeles Times, The Heretik and Think Progress

Michael Abramowitz / Washington Post:

Rove E-Mail Sought by Congress May Be Missing — RNC Took Away His Access to Delete Files in 2005 — A lawyer for the Republican National Committee told congressional staff members yesterday that the RNC is missing at least four years' worth of e-mail from White House senior adviser Karl Rove …

Discussion: Firedoglake, First Read, NewsHog, The Carpetbagger Report, Shakesville, Think Progress, TPMmuckraker and Political Animal

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

The Bush administration's terrible luck with finding documents — (updated below - Update II - Update III) — I feel — in this vaguely intuitive sort of way — as though there is some kind of a pattern buried within this set of facts, but as much as I search, I just can't quite figure out what it might be:

Discussion: Sigmund, Carl and Alfred, JustOneMinute, The Sideshow, The Carpetbagger Report, On Deadline and Angry Bear

John Bresnahan / The Politico:

White House Tells Democrats No Deal on Rove Testimony or E-mails — White House Counsel Fred Fielding, in a letter today, told Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary committees, that the White House has not budged in its refusal …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Hullabaloo, Reason Magazine and Daily Kos

Los Angeles Times:

Controversy escalates over missing e-mails — GOP officials say they're still searching for messages related to investigations of the Bush administration. Democrats focus on Karl Rove's role. — WASHINGTON — The growing controversy over White House record-keeping and disclosure swirled …

Discussion: TAPPED and Patterico's Pontifications

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:
Today's Must Read

Discussion: Firedoglake

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Vaporware — It seems as though the firing of eight federal …

Discussion: Sister Toldjah

Mark Kleiman / The RBC:
Overplaying their hand — I think the White House has finally gone a bridge too far.

Discussion: indict dick cheney and The Huffington Post

Steve Connor / The Independent:

The prospect of all-female conception — Women might soon be able to produce sperm in a development that could allow lesbian couples to have their own biological daughters, according to a pioneering study published today. — Scientists are seeking ethical permission to produce synthetic sperm cells …

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Unfogged, On Deadline and Sister Toldjah

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Byrd Doggedly Expresses His Love for Man's Best Friend — A bomb had struck the Iraqi parliament earlier in the day, but it would take more than that to bring the United States Senate to heel. — "For many in America, pets are more than just companions — they are members of the family …

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Don Surber: 7 for Friday — Seven shiny objects that drew my attention:

Peter Wallsten / Los Angeles Times:

Democratic politicians lose a soapbox with Imus — His show gave many of them a way to reach a national audience of white males — a crucial voting bloc. — WASHINGTON — They came by the hundreds that hot August day in tiny Johnson City, Tenn., gathering on an asphalt parking lot to meet …

Discussion: Top Sports News on AOL, CNN Political Ticker, The Influence Peddler and The Hill's Pundit Blog

RADAR:
TEAM IMUS: WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT

Discussion: Tennessee Guerilla Women, The News Blog and Media Matters for America

Digby / Hullabaloo: They Were Warned — As the media elite and various political …

Financial Times:

Wolfowitz must be told to resign now — The president of the World Bank has one asset: his credibility. The Bank's capacity to make a difference lies not in its money and ideas but in its ability to be the world's voice for development. This includes, as Paul Wolfowitz, the current president …

Discussion: Obsidian Wings, Outside The Beltway, The Washington Note, FP Passport, A Tiny Revolution, Grasping Reality … and New York Times

Krishna Guha / Financial Times:
World Bank pledges action on Wolfowitz

Discussion: Think Progress and Daily Kos

web.worldbank.org:
Statement by Paul Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank Group

Discussion: WSJ.com and FP Passport

Washington Post:
Wolfowitz Apologizes for Role in Salary Scandal

Discussion: Austin Bay Blog, Corruption Chronicles and Daily Kos

Dale Franks / QandO:

IT'S FOR THE CHILDREN... ...E — xcept for when it isn't. But, I'll get to that in a minute. — So, Don Imus, after a 40-year broadcast career, is now off the air, because of a single bad one-liner, insensitive as it might've been. What do we learn from this episode?

Discussion: baldilocks

The Big Trunk / Power Line:
AL SHARPTON, ARBITER ELEGANTIAE

Discussion: Sister Toldjah

Lynn Sweet / Chicago Sun Times:

Obama says he still supports 'shorter leash' for Bush on Iraq — WASHINGTON — White House hopeful Sen. Barack Obama told the Sun-Times Thursday he never suggested that Democrats should send President Bush an Iraq war funding bill without a timeline for withdrawing troops if Bush vetoes legislation with deadlines.

Discussion: Daily Kos and TIME: Swampland

Anne Flaherty / Associated Press:
Top Dem urges colleagues to push on Iraq

Discussion: Redstate and Crooks and Liars

Guardian:

'I am plotting a new Russian revolution' — London exile Berezovsky says force necessary to bring down President Putin — The Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky has told the Guardian he is plotting the violent overthrow of President Putin from his base in Britain after forging close contacts with members of Russia's ruling elite.

Discussion: Publius Pundit, NewsHog and Samizdata.net

BBC:

Net reaches out to final frontier — A programme to kick-start the use of internet communications in space has been announced by the US government. — The Department of Defense's Iris project will put an internet router in space by the start of 2009. — It will allow voice …

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

The Surge: First Fruits — By the day, the debate at home about Iraq becomes increasingly disconnected from the realities of the war on the ground. The Democrats in Congress are so consumed with negotiating among their factions the most clever linguistic device to legislatively ensure …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, FP Passport, Betsy's Page and Melanie Phillips's Diary

Perry Bacon Jr / Washington Post:

Romney Plays Down Role in Health Law — Massachusetts Legislation Is Widely Lauded, but Not by Conservative Republicans — As Mitt Romney aggressively courts conservatives in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, landmark health-care legislation that the former Massachusetts governor signed …

Discussion: First Read and TIME

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / Associated Press:

Immigration Debate Sours for Illegals — AP Photo CASP102 — WASHINGTON (AP) - The terms of the immigration debate have turned less friendly for illegal immigrants as lawmakers and the Bush administration struggle to reach a deal in the next few weeks. — The landscape for an immigration overhaul …

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

Early Verdict on Whitehouse Favorable — Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) was getting needled by his peers from the moment he walked into his first meeting of Judiciary Committee Democrats in early January. — "Hey, Sheldon," Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) barked at the newcomer, a member of one of his state's oldest families.