Top Items:
Donald G. McNeil Jr / New York Times:
Borders Are Tightened as Flu Cases Rise — Countries around the world began tightening their border and immigration controls Tuesday as the number of confirmed cases of swine flu continued to rise. — The number of deaths believed attributable to swine flu climbed to as many as 152 on Tuesday …
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Erica Werner / Associated Press:
Senate set to confirm health secretary — WASHINGTON (AP) — With the swine flu spreading, the Senate is on the verge of confirming President Barack Obama's nominee for secretary of health and human services. — Debate is set to begin Tuesday morning, with a vote anticipated in the afternoon.
Guardian:
Child could hold key as search begins — Case confirmed in village in south-eastern Mexico where 60% of residents fell ill — A Mexican village whose inhabitants were overwhelmed by an outbreak of respiratory illness starting in February has emerged as a possible source of the swine flu outbreak …
John D. Sutter / CNN:
Swine flu creates controversy on Twitter — (CNN) — The swine flu outbreak is spawning debate about how people get information during health emergencies — especially at a time when news sources are becoming less centralized. — Some observers say Twitter — a micro-blogging site …
Bruce Sterling / Wired News:
Practical Tips for Combatting Swine Flu In Your Home — *I kinda hate to spread more panicky news about swine flu, even though this helpful document is the picture of dry bureaucratic accuracy. — People freak out over “pandemics,” even though we've got one of the worst pandemics in history …
Reid Wilson / The Hill:
Emergency Hill hearings on swine flu — Congressional lawmakers moved quickly Monday to investigate the spread of the deadly strain of swine flu in Mexico and the United States, calling for emergency hearings to review the federal government's response. — The hearings, scheduled for later this week …
New York Times:
Obama Seeks to Ease Fears on Swine Flu
Obama Seeks to Ease Fears on Swine Flu
Discussion:
The Note, Washington Post, The Fix, Boston Globe, The Nation, Washington Times, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Political Punch, H5N1 and Daily Kos
Ross Douthat / New York Times:
Cheney for President — Watching Dick Cheney defend the Bush administration's interrogation policies, it's been hard to escape the impression that both the Republican Party and the country would be better off today if Cheney, rather than John McCain, had been a candidate for president in 2008.
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Jack Cafferty / CNN:
Cafferty: Time for Cheney to go hunting — Editor's note: Jack Cafferty is the author of a new book, “Now or Never: Getting Down to the Business of Saving Our American Dream.” He provides commentary on CNN's “The Situation Room” daily from 4 to 7 p.m. ET. You can also visit Jack's Cafferty File blog.
Wall Street Journal:
The Politics of Liberal Amnesia — Nancy Pelosi is “pushing back” against charges that she was aware of — and acquiesced in — the CIA's harsh interrogations of terrorist detainees nearly from the moment the practice began, reports the Politico Web site. Maybe she's suffering from amnesia.
New York Post:
PLANE DUMB — The Federal Aviation Administration seems to see the public as Enemy No. 1. Why else, after all, would it re peatedly hide information about potentially dangerous situations — as well as those that appear to be, but actually aren't? — Yesterday, for example, the FAA …
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Guardian:
Pianist stops show with anti-US rant — • ‘Get your hands off my country’ audience told — • Polish player protests over missile defence shield — Krystian Zimerman, the great Polish concert pianist, is usually a man of few words. He doesn't, as a rule, talk to the audience during performances.
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Wall Street Journal:
Fed Pushes Citi, BofA to Increase Capital — Regulators have told Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. that the banks may need to raise more capital based on early results of the government's so-called stress tests of lenders, according to people familiar with the situation.
Discussion:
Clusterstock, naked capitalism, Guardian, FT Alphaville, The Washington Independent, The Big Picture and Calculated Risk
Henry Kaufman / Financial Times:
How libertarian dogma led the Fed astray — The Federal Reserve has been hobbled by at least two major shortcomings that were primarily responsible for the current and several previous credit crises. Its failure to spot the importance of changing financial markets and its commitment …
Associated Press:
Chrysler latest: Union eyes majority ownership — STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. — The United Auto Workers union will own 55% of a restructured Chrysler LLC and its retiree health care trust will get a seat on the board if union members vote to approve contract concessions this week.
John Blake / CNN:
Why Michelle Obama inspires women around globe — (CNN) — Heather Ferreira works in the slums of Mumbai, India, where she has watched thousands of women live under a “curse.” — The women she meets in the squalid streets where “Slumdog Millionaire” was filmed are often treated with contempt, she says.
Walter Alarkon / The Hill:
Deal pushes budget toward 100th-day goal — House and Senate Democrats reached a budget deal on Monday night that will allow both chambers to vote on budget resolutions this week. — Budget negotiators, after hours of negotiations on Monday, put finishing touches on the resolution …
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Brad Friedman / The BRAD BLOG:
In Memoriam: John Gideon, 1947 - 2009 — “I will choose to celebrate his life.” — Ellen Theisen, John Gideon's co-director at VotersUnite.org on his passing. — It was a very lonely time for advocates of democracy in the U.S. when John Gideon posted his first guest blog here in the dark days …
Discussion:
Winds of Change.NET
Mike / Rortybomb:
Doing the homework — Sorry for the lax updates, I've been sick and chugging Wall-flu, the Walgreens generic Theraflu, like mad the past several days. I missed this from Matthew Yglesias: … The homework they are talking about about is the soft-skills part of mortgage applications …
Iain Martin / Telegraph:
Britain is going to need far more people like Sir Michael Caine — The son of a charlady from Rotherhithe is an example of social mobility at its best - but try telling that to Labour, says Iain Martin. — His name, as they say, is Michael Caine. And he's not a happy bunny.
Discussion:
Samizdata.net
Washington Post:
Key Posts Remain Vacant as Untested Pandemic Response Plan Implemented — As they confront the growing swine flu crisis, President Obama's administration is attempting to implement a never-before-tested pandemic response plan while dozens of key public health and emergency response jobs in the administration remain vacant.
Brian Stelter / New York Times:
How '07 ABC Interview Tilted a Torture Debate — In late 2007, there was the first crack of daylight into the government's use of waterboarding during interrogations of Al Qaeda detainees. On Dec. 10, John Kiriakou, a former C.I.A. officer who had participated in the capture …
Discussion:
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