memeorandum: Obama Off to Solid Start, Poll Finds (Washington Post)

12:20 PM ET, April 26, 2009

Top Items:

U.S. Slow to Learn of Mexico Flu — Canadian Officials Knew of Rare Strain Before Americans Did — U.S. public health officials did not know about a growing outbreak of swine flu in Mexico until nearly a week after that country started invoking protective measures, and didn't learn …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Dot Earth, NO QUARTER, JustOneMinute, Daily Kos and The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

Donald G. McNeil Jr / New York Times:

Students Fall Ill in New York, and Swine Flu Is Likely Cause — Tests show that eight students at a Queens high school are likely to have contracted the human swine flu virus that has struck Mexico and a small number of other people in the United States, health officials in New York City said yesterday.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Jules Crittenden, Gothamist, New York Post, Gawker, Fausta's Blog, Hot Air, The Other McCain, A Blog For All, Pundit & Pundette, PoliGazette, Macsmind, H5N1, The Democratic Daily, Michelle Malkin and Reuters

BBC:

Mexico flu: Your experiences — Readers in Mexico have been emailing the BBC describing the sense of fear gripping the country as a result of a flu virus outbreak, which has so far claimed up to 60 lives. — The World Health Organization says the virus has the potential to become a pandemic.

Discussion: Right Wing Nut House, Guardian and Global Guerrillas

Thomas H. Maugh II / Los Angeles Times:
11 more suspected swine flu cases in U.S.

Discussion: The Swamp

New York Times:
Mexico Takes Powers to Isolate Cases of Swine Flu

Discussion: Guardian, Time, Bloomberg and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Centers for Disease Control:
Human Swine Influenza Investigation

Discussion: Effect Measure, Aetiology, ScienceInsider, Daily Kos, MSNBC and Washington Post

Washington Post:
WHO Cites Potential for Swine Flu Pandemic

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Effect Measure, Obsidian Wings and TigerHawk

Thomas Black / Bloomberg:
Mexico's Calderon Declares Emergency Amid Swine Flu Outbreak

Discussion: AMERICAN DIGEST, Wake up America, USA Today, Effect Measure, Wonkette, Instapundit, Donklephant, The TrogloPundit and Gateway Pundit

Frank Rich / New York Times:

The Banality of Bush White House Evil — WE don't like our evil to be banal. Ten years after Columbine, it only now may be sinking in that the psychopathic killers were not jock-hating dorks from a “Trench Coat Mafia,” or, as ABC News maintained at the time, “part of a dark …

Discussion: TalkLeft, Prairie Weather, Newshoggers.com, American Street, Balloon Juice and AfterDowningStreet.org

Washington Post:

Obama Off to Solid Start, Poll Finds — But Release of Memos on Detainee Interrogations Reveals Deep Partisan Split — Barack Obama's performance in the first 100 days of his presidency draws strong public approval in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, but there is decidedly less support …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, On Deadline, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Daily Kos and The Page

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Slouching Towards Oblivion — Maybe it's because I'm staying at the Sunset Tower on Sunset Boulevard, but I keep thinking of newspapers as Norma Desmond. — Papers are still big. It's the screens that got small. — Now that everybody can check their iPhones and laptops for news …

Discussion: Althouse

Steve Schippert / The Tank:

Obama Administration's Assault on the American Warrior Commences — The assault is relentless. It is enraging. And today, the Obama administration's assault on those who dare to defend America from terrorist thugs who rejoice in publicizing beheadings, mass murder, and pure evil are on notice: “You will be punished.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Wizbang and Confederate Yankee

Greg Miller / Los Angeles Times:

CIA reportedly declined to closely evaluate harsh interrogations — Current and former U.S. officials say the failure to carefully examine the value of ‘enhanced’ methods such as waterboarding — despite calls to do so as early as 2003 — was part of a broader trend.

Discussion: The Caucus

Stuart Taylor Jr / National Journal Online:
Did Torture Save Lives?

Discussion: TalkLeft

WCVB-TV:

Freed Pirate Hostage Accuses Limbaugh Of ‘Hate Speech’ — SEEKONK, Mass. — Shane Murphy, the second-in-command aboard the American merchant ship seized by pirates, lashed out at Rush Limbaugh for the talk show host's racial characterization in discussing the rescue of the ship's captain by the Navy.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Crooks and Liars, AmSpecBlog and Macsmind

The Huffington Post:
Shane Murphy, Freed Pirate Hostage, Slams “Disgusting” Rush Limbaugh

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, DownWithTyranny!, Think Progress and AMERICAblog News

Jay Taylor / Washington Post:

The Final Triumph of Chiang Kai-shek — Chiang Kai-Shek and the Struggle for Modern China — Belknap. — 722 pp. $35 — Chiang Kai-shek ranks as one of the most despised leaders of the 20th century. Famously derided as “Peanut” and “General Cash-My-Check,” the leader …

Discussion: The Peking Duck

Louise Story / New York Times:

After an Off Year, Wall Street Pay Is Bouncing Back — The rest of the nation may be getting back to basics, but on Wall Street, paychecks still come with a golden promise. — Workers at the largest financial institutions are on track to earn as much money this year as they did before the …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Prairie Weather

Yves Smith / naked capitalism:

On Pelosi's Duplicity and Apparent Sandbagging of Elizabeth Warren — Despite her longevity as a California pol, house speaker Nancy Pelosi is looking like every bit as much of a dyed-in-the-wool financial services industry backer as the Congressmen on the New York-Boston corridor.