Americans Support Goal of Improved Relations With Muslim World  —  Most Americans think President Obama's pledge to “seek a new way forward” with the Muslim world is an important goal, even as nearly half hold negative views about Islam and a sizable number say that even mainstream adherents …

From Bubble to Depression?  —  Bubbles have been frequent in economic history, and they occur in the laboratories of experimental economics under conditions which — when first studied in the 1980s — were considered so transparent that bubbles would not be observed.

Voters Say 3-1 Paterson Does Not Deserve Election, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Most Say He Should Announce Now He Won't Run  —  New York State voters disapprove 60 - 28 percent of the job Gov. David Paterson is doing, the lowest approval ever for a New York Governor, and say 63 …

Letting Stupid beget Stupid  —  Newt Gingrich — with all his Boss Hogg gravitas — prattled on FoxNews Sunday about the “recklessness” of Obama's foreign policy, while proclaiming we should attack North Korea with ‘frickin’ lasers.  Meanwhile, Obama was making a speech in front …

Obamateurism of the Day  —  George Bush's critics rightly roasted him for his tortured syntax and waterboarded grammar, and used it to make the claim that the graduate of both Harvard and Yale was an idiot.  Well, perhaps, but I don't recall him ever claiming that Austrian was a language.

Pentagon lets media see return of US war dead  —  DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. - The Pentagon's 18-year ban on media covering the return of fallen U.S. service members ended with a solemn ceremony for the arrival of a flag-draped casket of an airman felled in Afghanistan.

At Least 92 Die in Earthquake in Italy  —  L'AQUILA, Italy — More than 90 people died and tens of thousands were left homeless when an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 shook central Italy early Monday morning, seriously damaging buildings in the mountainous Abruzzo Region east of Rome, officials said.

Obama Bowed, Bush Danced.  —  There has been a lot of ranting on the right side of the fence about Obama's deep bow to the Saudi king, Abdullah.  As rightfully pointed out by Little Green Footballs where was the griping and hand wringing when Bush did it?  —  I have no love for either Obama or LGF …

Pew: Partisan Gap in Obama's Approval Largest in Modern History  —  Pew released a poll last week showing the partisan gap in President Obama's approval numbers is the largest in modern history.  Like many recent surveys, Pew finds Obama's overall approval rating at 59 percent.

THE BUSH SIX  —  About a year ago, a book came out in England that made a fascinating prediction: at some point in the future, the author wrote, six top officials in the Bush Administration would get a tap on the shoulder announcing that they were being arrested on international charges of torture.

2006 Israel-Lebanon War Looms Large in Pentagon Debate on Future  —  Leaders Divided on Whether to Focus On Conventional or Irregular Combat  —  A war that ended three years ago and involved not a single U.S. soldier has become the subject of an increasingly heated debate inside the Pentagon …

How to Clean a Dirty Bank  —  COMMERCIAL banks in the United States are not subject to the bankruptcy statute — when they become insolvent they are simply acquired by the government.  This is what banks sign on for in return for a charter, deposit insurance and direct access …

Will Geithner Fire Corporate America?  —  Tim Geithner said on Sunday's Face the Nation that the Treasury might fire the heads of big banks that depend on financing from the federal government, just as it summarily deposed Rick Wagoner, the former CEO of General Motors — and before Wagoner …

Bob Dylan on Barack Obama, Ulysses Grant and American Civil War ghosts  —  Listen to an exclusive track from Bob Dylan's new album, and read his views on US politics and history, exclusively on Times Online  —  Exclusive track: Listen to Feel A Change Comin' On

Special panel set to do last count in Minn. Senate race  —  The Minnesota Senate race has been undecided for so long that “it's sort of like the Iraq war,” says Bruce Carlson of Brooklyn Park, Minn. “People almost forget that it's still going on.”  —  A sharp reminder will come Tuesday …

What Did Andrew Cuomo Know About The AIG Bonuses?  —  Responding to a version of this story posted at 9:28 pm on April 5, Richard Bamberger, a Cuomo spokesman, wrote to HuffPost in a 12:18 am, April 6 email: … For three days prior to the original, 9:28 PM April 5 version of this story …

Life After Newspapers  —  Few industries in this country have been as coddled as newspapers.  The government doesn't actually write them checks, as it does to farmers and now to banks, insurance companies and automobile manufacturers.  But politicians routinely pay court to local newspapers …

A Rich Education for Summers (After Harvard)  —  Lawrence H. Summers plays down his stint in the hedge fund business as a mere part-time job — but the financial and intellectual rewards that he gained there would make even most full-time workers envious.  —  Mr. Summers, the former Treasury secretary …

Homelessness up as families on the edge lose hold  —  Cities and counties are reporting a sharp increase in homeless families as the economic crisis leads to job loss and makes housing unaffordable.  —  In Seattle, 40% more people are living on suburban streets.

Truth Stings  —  The conservative blogs are enraged that people are pointing out that they have and are stoking the fires of an atmosphere of hate that leads to police officers getting killed.  As I've written for years, this is part of their pattern of behavior in America and for too long we've accepted …