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10:55 AM ET, March 11, 2009

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Camille Paglia / Salon:
Heads should roll  —  President Obama's clumsy, smirky staff is sinking him — and resurrecting a deflated GOP!  Plus: Lay off Rush!  And a Brazilian diva, up close and electric  —  View a slide show of Daniela Mercury at the 2009 carnival in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil.  —  Free Barack!
RELATED:
Salon:
Heads should roll  —  Oh, the incestuous mediocrity of American politics and media — compared to the splendors of Brazil!  As a direct result of the two articles I wrote about superstar singer Daniela Mercury in Salon in June and August of last year, I was invited by the publisher Editora Abril …
Discussion: Fausta's Blog and Commentary
Laura Rozen / The Cable:
Freeman speaks out on his exit  —  Retired Amb.  Chas Freeman, who said today that he no longer accepts an offer to chair the National Intelligence Council, has just sent this message: … More to come.
RELATED:
Alan Greenspan / Wall Street Journal:
The Fed Didn't Cause the Housing Bubble  —  Any new regulations should help direct savings toward productive investments.  —  We are in the midst of a global crisis that will unquestionably rank as the most virulent since the 1930s.  It will eventually subside and pass into history.
Mike Allen / The Politico:
No quit: the campaign to boost Bush  —  The defense never rests.  When President Barack Obama released his own policy this week on former President George W. Bush's practice of attaching controversial signing statements to legislation, a reporter quickly got a tip from a Bush loyalist …
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Approval of Congress Hits Four-Year High, Fueled by Dems  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' job approval rating of Congress is up an additional 8 points this month, after a 12-point increase last month, and now stands at 39% — the most positive assessment of Congress since February 2005.
Howard Fineman / Newsweek:
A Turning Tide?  —  Obama still has the approval of the people, but the establishment is beginning to mumble that the president may not have what it takes.  —  Surfer that he is, President Obama should know a riptide when he's in one.  The center usually is the safest, most productive place in politics …
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
ZOMBIE LIES THAT WILL NOT DIE.  —  We're not even going to talk about the tendentious Matrix analogy laced into this column Amity Shlaes wrote for Bloomberg.  Not.  Even.  Going.  To.  Talk.  About.  It.  I already read the thing for you.  I refuse to relive it.
RELATED:
Amity Shlaes / Bloomberg:   Obama's ‘Matrix’ Alters Reality of Health Care: Amity Shlaes
Stephen Labaton / New York Times:
Some Banks, Citing Strings, Want to Return Aid  —  WASHINGTON — The list of demands keeps getting longer.  —  Financial institutions that are getting government bailout funds have been told to put off evictions and modify mortgages for distressed homeowners.  They must let shareholders vote on executive pay packages.
Roll Call:
Heard on the Hill: Vitter Goes From Hookergate to Gate-Crashing  —  Among Members of Congress, there's a long-standing, proud tradition of the Airport Freakout.  Add to the list of those who've indulged in meltdowns and temper tantrums while traveling one Sen. David Vitter …
RELATED:
John Byrne / The Raw Story:
GOP senator flips out at airline, sets off security alarm
Discussion: Think Progress and Wonkette
Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:
Senate Approves $410 Billion Bill to Fund Federal Government  —  The Senate gave final approval last night to a $410 billion spending bill to fund most of the federal government for the remainder of the year after overcoming a resilient Republican opposition and several Democratic defections.
Bruce Kesler / Maggie's Farm:
Top Ten Reasons For ObamaCare Are Based On False Information  —  George Bernard Shaw warned “Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”  The major overhaul of American health care pursued by President Obama and his supporters is based on many false premises and is excessive and likely to do more harm than good.
Barbara Barrett / Raleigh News & Observer:
Edwards talks about poverty, stays silent on paternity  —  PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Former U.S. Sen. John Edwards took another tentative step into the public spotlight tonight, speaking at Brown University about extreme poverty around the world and urging Americans to get involved in what he called a “fundamental moral issue.”
Discussion: MSNBC
Martina Stewart / CNN:
S.C. gov wants to use some stimulus funds to pay down debt  —  (CNN) - South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford plans to ask President Obama for permission to use part of his state's stimulus money to pay down its debt, not on new spending, according to a letter he sent state legislators Tuesday.
Discussion: Washington Monthly
RELATED:
John Bresnahan / The Politico:
Inside Murtha's ‘earmark factory’  —  Over the course of the past decade, Rep. John P. Murtha has earmarked millions of dollars for the Electro-Optics Center at Penn State University — money that has, in turn, gone to clients of the PMA Group, the Murtha-linked lobbying shop that was raided …
Discussion: Sister Toldjah and Instapundit
José M. Guardia / Barcepundit:
IN MEMORIAM, 5 YEARS AFTER  —  Eva Belén Abad Quijada, Spain, 30 years old  —  Óscar Abril Alegre, Spain, 19 years old  —  Liliana Guillermina Acero Ushiña, Ecuador, 26 years old  —  Florencio Aguado Rojano, Spain, 60 years old  —  Juan Alberto Alonso Rodríguez, Spain, 38 years old
David Leonhardt / New York Times:
Banks Counted on Looting America's Coffers  —  Sixteen years ago, two economists published a research paper with a delightfully simple title: “Looting.”  —  The economists were George Akerlof, who would later win a Nobel Prize, and Paul Romer, the renowned expert on economic growth.
Capital Commerce:
Putting Obama on the Couch  —  “So, like, do you think Obama is just mean or something?”  That is how a twentysomething television booker recently responded to my critique to her of the president's stimulus package and banking bailout plans.  Actually, I think Team Obama is filled with dedicated …
Pamela Hess / Associated Press:
Officials: Afghanistan Taliban leader was at Gitmo  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Taliban's new top operations officer in southern Afghanistan had been a prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention center, the latest example of a freed detainee who took a militant leadership role and a potential complication …
Dan Gainor / FOX Forum:
Rain or Shine, Environmentalists Want to Control Us  —  Vice President Business & Media Institute  —  This is the winter of environmentalists' discontent.  They desperately want the earth to be warming to prove Al Gore's truth inviolate and they are going to make you pay thousands of dollars for it no matter whether it's true or not.
Seeking Alpha:
Warren Buffett Calls on President, Lead Democrats to Focus on Economy  —  Warren Buffett joined another investment guru, Mort Zuckerman, and many economists in calling on President Obama and Congress to focus on fixing the economy.  Zuckerman is a real estate guru and publisher of U.S. News & World Report and the New York Daily news.
Discussion: Townhall.com
Telegraph:
Muslim extremists shout abuse at British soldiers during homecoming march  —  Muslim extremists shouted abuse at British soldiers during a home-coming march by the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment.  —  A group of around 20 men in traditional Islamic dress held up banners and placards that read …
Greg B. Smith / NY Daily News:
Conflict-of-interest issues grow for Carrion  —  President Obama's new urban czar, Adolfo Carrión, admitted Tuesday he has not paid an architect who designed a renovation of his Bronx home two years ago.  —  That presents conflict-of-interest issues because at the time the architect …
Discussion: Runnin' Scared and Gothamist
Washington Times:
Too rosy for even a Nobel Prize winner?  —  The Obama administration is basing its budget forecasts on the economy growing an eyebrow-raising 15.6 percent above inflation between 2008 and 2013 - a drop of 1.2 percent this year followed by an average of 4 percent growth over the following four years.
Binyamin Appelbaum / Washington Post:
Citi's Long History of Overreach, Then Rescue  —  When Citicorp and Travelers Group agreed on a historic merger in 1998, the heads of the two companies placed a courtesy call to inform the Treasury Department.  Then they held a news conference to suggest that Congress change the law to allow their union.
Howard Witt / Los Angeles Times:
Driving through Tenaha, Texas, doesn't pay for some  —  A lawsuit alleges that the town's police pull over motorists — especially African Americans — and extort money and valuables by threatening criminal charges or worse.  —  Reporting from Tenaha, Texas — You can drive into this dusty fleck …
Discussion: Lean Left and pandagon.net
Jon Ward / Washington Times:
Biden: Taliban negotiations likely  —  Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said Tuesday that 70 percent of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan are essentially mercenaries who possibly could be negotiated with instead of fought, and said the United States likely will try this approach.
Discussion: Weekly Standard and The Corner
 
 
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 More Items: 
New York Times:
Gunman Opens Fire on German School
Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and The Lede
Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
Sebelius's ‘Choice’  —  Obama's Messenger for Moral Incoherence
Discussion: Washington Monthly
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Center For American Progress Launching Big War Room To Drive Obama Agenda
Discussion: The Fix and Democratic Strategist
The Independent:
Cabinet chief: Obama team ‘unreachable’
Discussion: Don Surber
Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:
What Left Turn?  —  Obama Is Doing Pretty Much What He Promised
Discussion: TalkLeft
 Earlier Items: 
Lindsay Renick Mayer / OpenSecrets.org:
Millions of Dollars Later, Congress Introduces Unionization Bill
Liz Rappaport / Wall Street Journal:
TALF Bogs Down as Investors Balk
Discussion: The Swamp
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Mobilizing the Lower Upper Class
Associated Press:
A glance at school shootings in recent years
BBC:
US Congress eases curbs on Cuba
Discussion: PoliBlog
Robbie Brown / New York Times:
Arrests Draw New Attention to Assisted Suicide
Discussion: DISSENTING JUSTICE
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Mandy Dalugdug / Music Business Worldwide:
UMG, ABKCO, and Concord sue Believe and its subsidiary TuneCore for $500M+, alleging Believe built its business via “industrial-scale copyright infringement”

Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:
Sources: Shari Redstone does not plan to stay on the board of Paramount Global after the company completes its planned merger with Skydance Media

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
India issues a notice to Wikipedia over bias concerns, questioning if it should be classified as a publisher, after judges called its open editing “dangerous”

 
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