North Korean Nuclear Claim Draws Global Criticism  —  SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea announced on Monday that it had successfully conducted its second nuclear test, in defiance of international warnings.  —  The dimensions of the test were not immediately verifiable.

State of Paralysis  —  California, it has long been claimed, is where the future happens first.  But is that still true?  If it is, God help America.  —  The recession has hit the Golden State hard.  The housing bubble was bigger there than almost anywhere else, and the bust has been bigger too.

Map the Fallen launched!  —  For the past two years I've been working on the Google Earth Outreach team, aimed at helping non-profits and public benefit groups use Google Earth and Google Maps to further their cause.  In that time I've worked on so many cool projects, from training indigenous communities …

CNN Poll: Powell vs. Cheney and Limbaugh  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - As Colin Powell fires back against Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh in the latest skirmish in the battle over the future of the Republican Party, a new national poll indicates that Americans have a much more favorable opinion of Powell than Cheney or Limbaugh.

Obama's wreaths: Afro-Amer., Confed.  —  Today, there were wreaths to go around.  —  Several dozen professors had called upon the first African-American president to forgo a Memorial Day tradition of laying a wreath at a monument to Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery …

A Host Defends Her Brand  —  Even by the standards of cable news, Greta Van Susteren is an outsize personality.  —  On her Fox News prime-time show, she covers murder trials one minute and bailout money the next.  On her popular blog, she posts almost hourly on most days and chats with viewers via Skype.

A novel objection to gay marriage  —  Oh my.  Oh, oh my: … OK, so we can expect Schulman from here to advance his argument against gay marriage in a way that does not invoke Jesus and does not call gay people “icky.”  I'm skeptical that he'll be able to pull this off, but I'll be interested to see him try.

Conservatives itching for SCOTUS fight  —  As Barack Obama prepares to nominate his first Supreme Court justice, conservative activists have three words for Senate Republicans: Lock and load.  —  While conservatives know that they can't defeat Obama's nominee without massive Democratic defections …

Who Will Ombud The Ombudsman?  —  Clark Hoyt, ombudsman of the NY Times, goes into the tank for Edmund Andrews, author of “Busted”, who was busted by Megan McArdle.  —  To recap - Edmund Andrews, Times financial reporter, is promoting a new book claiming to detail his personal journey through …

Decision Day on California's Prop 8  —  Tomorrow is D-Day in California: the day that the state's Supreme Court will render its decision on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the initiative passed last November to put an end to legal gay marriage in the state.  —  Nobody has a clue which way they're likely to rule.

Backlash grows against Obama's preventive detention proposal  —  (updated below - Update II - Update III)  —  The backlash against President Obama's extraordinary proposal for indefinite “preventive detention” — already widespread in the immediate aftermath of his speech — continues to grow.

Happy Days Are Here Again  —  Buried Lede of the Day: From the tenth graf of a May 7 WSJ article on furniture retailer Design Within Reach: … Is that really true?  If so, a big deal, no? ...  And why?  Perspective?  Lower status anxiety?  Lower Iraq anxiety?  Obama?  The power of schadenfreude? ...

Job Losses Push Safer Mortgages to Foreclosure  —  As job losses rise, growing numbers of American homeowners with once solid credit are falling behind on their mortgages, amplifying a wave of foreclosures.  —  In the latest phase of the nation's real estate disaster, the locus of trouble …

ANOTHER ONE?.... Let's see, Liz Cheney practically lives on cable news.  She also lies routinely, accuses the president of helping terrorists, and is so mindless in her attacks on the nation's elected leadership, she's something of a national embarrassment.  —  And for Republican recruiters, apparently she's perfect.