Obama bows down to Saudi King (updated)  —  I am quite certain that this is not the protocol, and is most unbecoming a President of the United States.  —  Update: See Miss Manners on the protocol.  Americans do not bow to foreign monarchs because that act signified the monarch's power over his subjects.

Department of awful statistics  —  Every time you find yourself saying that there must be some causal relationship between two strongly correlated variables, you should go back and look at this graph:  —  As Atlantic Business contributor Derek Lowe, from whom I stole that graph, notes,

Gingrich warns of third party in 2012  —  (CNN) — Former House speaker Newt Gingrich is warning of a third party mutiny in 2012 if Republicans don't figure out a way to shape up.  —  “If the Republicans can't break out of being the right wing party of big government, then I think you would …

The Myth of 90 Percent: Only a Small Fraction of Guns in Mexico Come From U.S.  —  While 90 percent of the guns traced to the U.S. actually originated in the United States, the percent traced to the U.S. is only about 17 percent of the total number of guns reaching Mexico.  —  FOXNews.com

Eric Cantor Predicts GOP House Takeover in 2010  —  Heee-larious. … Keep praising super unpopular public figures, Eric.  Electoral gold. … Exactly.  —  What we really need right now are forward-thinking, out-of-the-box, truly untried and innovative policies, like tax cuts.

April Fools: Ann Coulter falls for fake Obama NASCAR story … In her April 1 column, Ann Coulter fell for a fake April Fools' Day article by Car and Driver magazine that claimed that President Obama has ordered General Motors and Chrysler to cease their participation in NASCAR because it is an “unnecessary expenditure.”

Leahy Bails on ‘Truth Commission’ Plan  —  In this guest essay, investigative journalist and former candidate for Vermont attorney general, Charlotte Dennett, describes a meeting with Sen. Patrick Leahy in which he acknowledges the failure of his plan for a “truth commission”:

Public Knows Basic Facts About Financial Crisis  —  More Know Unemployment Rate than Dow Average  —  The latest Pew Research Center News IQ survey finds the American public reasonably well-informed about a number of basic facts pertaining to the current economic situation.

Dodd Falls Way Behind As Approval Drops To Lowest Ever, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Voters Are Angry At AIG Bonuses And Blame Dodd  —  Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd trails former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, a possible Republican challenger, 50 - 34 percent in the 2010 Senate race …

Tedisco Now Leading By 12  —  As of 4:30 p.m. on April 2.  —  ALBANY—Now it's Tedisco by 12!  —  As voting machines are re-canvassed, Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco has picked up 37 votes, evaporating Democrat Scott Murphy's lead in the race to replace Kirsten Gillibrand in Congress …

Glenn Beck: I was wrong.  We're not marching to socialism, we're marching toward fascism.  —  For almost a year, Glenn Beck has been warning with increasing panic that America is headed toward socialism.  Tonight, he issued a correction: “They” are not marching the United States toward socialism, Beck explained, but actually fascism:

The President Is ‘Keeping Score’  —  Chicago politics has moved into the White House.  —  “Don't think we're not keeping score, brother.”  That's what President Barack Obama said to Rep. Peter DeFazio in a closed-door meeting of the House Democratic Caucus last week, according to the Associated Press.

Bricka Bracka Firecracker, Sis Boom Bah!  —  The century-old Russell Senate Office Building, a palace of marble and granite where lawmakers have examined everything from the Titanic to Watergate, is not ordinarily a spot for political rallies.  But these are not ordinary times.

Army searches for Bat Ayin terrorist  —  Article's topics: Terror Attack, Bat Ayin, West Bank, Gideon Ezra, IDF  —  The army has “a lead” in the search for the perpetrator of the deadly terror attack in Bat Ayin in which 13-year-old Shlomo Nativ was murdered and another boy, 7, was wounded, an IDF officer said Thursday.

Nihilism And Gay Marriage  —  Sometimes you can't say it better than the people who are going through it.  From Andrew, who I will quote at length: … That last point about paranoia is key, and it really defines, not just anti-Semitism, but bigotry itself.

Sources: Blagojevich indictment today  —  The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago says that later today it is announcing developments in a “significant criminal matter.”  Sources familiar with the situation said the announcement is expected to be the indictment of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and others on corruption charges.

WHO'S MISSING FROM THE G-20 PHOTO OP?  —  The male spouses, that's who.  Check out this photograph of the G-20 spouses.  Conspicuously absent are Néstor Kirchner, the former president of Argentina and husband of that nation's current leader, Cristina Kirchner, as well as Joachim Sauer …

US Rep. Mack won't seek Fla. Senate seat  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — U.S. Rep. Connie Mack will run for re-election instead of the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Mel Martinez.  —  Mack, whose father served two terms in the Senate, wrote to Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday saying he won't be a Senate candidate.

With charges dropped against Stevens, Alaska GOP now calling on Begich to resign.  —  Yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder said that he was asking a judge to drop all charges against former Alaska senator Ted Stevens because of prosecutorial misconduct by Justice Department lawyers.

Causes of the Oil Shock of 2007-08  —  I will be presenting my latest research paper, “Causes and Consequences of the Oil Shock of 2007-08”, at a conference today at the Brookings Institution.  Here I review some results from that paper about what caused oil prices to rise so spectacularly …

New Accounting Rules for Mortgage-Backed Securities  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The board that sets United States accounting standards is giving companies more leeway when valuing assets, a potential lift to battered banks' balance sheets.  —  The independent Financial Accounting Standards Board voted …

House Passes Tobacco Bill, but Senate Battle Looms  —  WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives passed legislation by a wide margin on Thursday to give the Food and Drug Administration sweeping new powers over tobacco products, which kill an estimated 400,000 Americans each year.

Judge: Bagram prisoners can challenge detention  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - A federal judge ruled Thursday that some prisoners in the war on terror can use U.S. civilian courts to challenge their detention at a military air base in Afghanistan …

Paterson Bids Rush Limbaugh Farewell  —  Rush Limbaugh is fed up with taxes in New York and with Gov. David A. Paterson in particular.  The radio talk-show host denounced the so-called millionaires' tax in the new state budget and then announced on the air this week that he would be packing up and leaving town.