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Air Marshals Stop Alleged ‘Shoe Bomb’ Attempt On United Jet to Denver — Qatari Diplomat In Custody After Attempting to ‘Light Up’ His Shoes — Federal air marshals subdued a man who authorities say attempted to “light his shoes on fire” on a United flight from Washington Reagan to Denver Wednesday night …
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MISUNDERSTANDING? — ABOVE THE POST UPDATE: According to CNN, another diplomat is saying that this is a misunderstanding. The story is that the man was smoking in the lavatory and when challenged by an air marshal, he mouthed off sarcastically “I was trying to light my shoes on fire.”

NBC: Passenger subdued aboard United jet — Air marshal smelled smoke on flight from D.C. to Denver; jet lands safely — A passenger was subdued by a federal air marshal during an incident aboard an airliner flying from Washington to Denver on Wednesday night, sources told NBC News.
Discussion:
The Agonist

Latest — Okay, this story has moved pretty rapidly. It was initially reported as an attempted shoe bombing. Next the idea was that it was what can only be called a very ill-considered joke on the part of the man taken into custody. Now it seems the guy in question was smoking …
Discussion:
Erick's blog

Breaking: Attempted terror attack on U.S. flight thwarted? Update: Misunderstanding? — All I've got so far is Twitter reports from CNN and NBC (via Breaking News) reporting that a guy tried to detonate explosives by lighting a fuse in his shoes on a flight from D.C. to Denver.
Discussion:
Wizbang

Qatar Diplomat Arrested After Disturbance on United Flight — Fox News' source said it did not appear to involve an explosive substance or device

Air Marshals Intervene in Incident on Plane — Federal officials were investigating an incident aboard a Washington-to-Denver flight on Wednesday involving a passenger who caused a disturbance. — ABC News reported that the passenger had been identified by the authorities as a diplomat in the Qatar Embassy in Washington.

McDonnell apologizes — After a defensive first reaction, Bob McDonnell realizes that there's little upside to this fight for him: — The proclamation issued by this Office designating April as Confederate History Month contained a major omission. The failure to include any reference …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Think Progress, CNN, The Volokh Conspiracy, Daily Kos, American Power and Newsweek Blogs
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McDonnell's Confederate History Month proclamation irks civil rights leaders
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, FrumForum, Power Line, Think Progress, Not Larry Sabato, NewsBusters.org, PostPartisan, Richmond Times-Dispatch, TPMMuckraker, Post Now, Balkinization, Taylor Marsh, The Note, The Plum Line, The Huffington Post, NPR Topics, Politics Daily, Firedoglake, Achenblog, DISSENTING JUSTICE, The Nation, TPM LiveWire, Grasping Reality …, Below The Beltway, Top of the Ticket, Virginia Politics Blog, Shakesville, This Just In, Crooks and Liars, Ben Smith's Blog, Right Now, MLive.com, The Caucus, Betsy's Page, Mediaite, The Huffington Post, Maggie's Notebook, The Moderate Voice, Obsidian Wings, Harry's Place, PoliBlog, Riehl World View, Little Green Footballs, Anti-Neo-Confederate, DownWithTyranny!, The Confluence, Outside The Beltway, Hit & Run, Guardian, AMERICAblog News, Feministing and Foreign Policy

Apologetic McDonnell Adds Slavery Clause To ‘Confederate History Month’ Proclamation

Proud Of Being Ignorant — A lot of you have e-mailed me to note …
Discussion:
Newshoggers.com, Little Green Footballs, Balkinization, The Impolitic, Prairie Weather and Washington Post

The wrong proclamation in Virginia
Discussion:
Pam's House Blend, PostPartisan, TPM LiveWire, Virginia Politics Blog and The Daily Dish


Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax — Recession, new tax credits have nearly half of US households paying no federal income tax — FILE - In this April 5, 2010 file photo, Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman gestures while speaking at the National Press Club in Washington.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hot Air, The American Pundit, Doug Ross, Feministe, TigerHawk and The Lonely Conservative


Reporter's notebook: What really happens at Tea Party rallies — (CNN) — When it comes to the Tea Party movement, the stereotypes don't tell the whole story. — Here's what you often see in the coverage of Tea Party rallies: offensive posters blasting President Obama and Democratic leaders …
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AP sources: FBI arrests man for threatening Pelosi — WASHINGTON — The FBI arrested a northern California man Wednesday for allegedly making threatening phone calls to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over health care reform, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.


Rep. Wasserman Schultz Insists Health Care Law Doesn't Require Individuals to Buy Insurance — (CNSNews.com) - Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D.-Fla.) is insisting that the new health care law she voted for last month does not mandate that individuals buy health insurance, despite language in the law that plainly says otherwise.

Five things we learned about Obamacare after it passed — “[W]e have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.” — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., famously said that about President Obama's health care reform package. She was right.
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Upheaval in Kyrgyzstan Could Imperil Key U.S. Base — Police officers in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, were attacked by protesters on Wednesday. Witnesses said the police seemed to panic. — Protests appear to have overthrown the government, calling into question the fate of a U.S. air base that supports the war in Afghanistan.
Discussion:
BBC, The Lede, FP Passport, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Newsweek Blogs, The Agonist, Laura Rozen's Blog, NPR Topics, msnbc.com, Truthdig and Hit & Run
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GOP will win House, Senate — Stanley Greenberg and James Carville claim that the Republican Party has peaked too soon. — Stanley Greenberg and James Carville claim that the Republican Party has peaked too soon. Incredibly, Greenberg says that “when we look back on this, we're going to say Massachusetts is when 1994 happened.”
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative, Liberty Pundits dot net, Riehl World View and Beltway Confidential


STORMY STUNT IRKS GOP — Stormy Daniels and her team may not have come to a conclusion about her Senate candidacy over the past few months (and we'd be surprised if they ever do!), but she's nonetheless managed to be a thorn in the side of Louisiana Republicans.

Voters Issue Strong Rebuke of Incumbents in Congress — Fewer than half (49%) would re-elect own member, 28% for most members — PRINCETON, NJ — A record-low percentage of U.S. voters — 28% — say most members of Congress deserve to be re-elected. The previous low was 29% in October 1992.
Discussion:
MyDD, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Politics Daily, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Hot Air, The Eye and National Review Online

Palin, Bachmann enthrall Minn. rally — Two of the conservative movement's biggest stars, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), lavished praise on each other Wednesday at a boisterous rally held at the Minneapolis Convention Center.


Behind Obama's Cool — In 2004, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky of Illinois attended a White House event wearing the campaign pin of her state's candidate for the United States Senate. When she saw President Bush do a double take at the one word on her pin, she assured him that it spelled “Obama,” not “Osama.”

U.S. Approves Targeted Killing of American Cleric — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has taken the extraordinary step of authorizing the targeted killing of an American citizen, the radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is believed to have shifted from encouraging attacks …
Discussion:
thefastertimes.com, BBC, The Volokh Conspiracy, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Salon, Opinio Juris, American Prospect, The Washington Independent, Cato @ Liberty, Vanity Fair, Mediaite, ATTACKERMAN, Gawker, Instapundit, Guardian, Washington Post, Think Progress, Left in the West, For The Record, Newshoggers.com, Swampland and The Corner on National …
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N.Korea leader sets world fashion trend: Pyongyang — AFP - The trademark suit sported by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is now in fashion worldwide thanks to his greatness, Pyongyang's official website said Wednesday. — Uriminzokkiri, quoting an article in communist party newspaper Rodong Sinmun …

55% Say Media Bias Bigger Problem in Politics Than Big Contributions — Voters agree that big money talks in politics but apparently not as loudly as big media. — Fifty-five percent (55%) of U.S. voters continue to think that media bias is a bigger problem in politics today …
Discussion:
Gateway Pundit, Big Journalism, Scared Monkeys, The Lonely Conservative, YID With LID, Wizbang and NewsBusters.org

Fear of Falling — There are a lot of things out there to be afraid of, and there seem to be phobias named for each one. For example, you may not be familiar with bathmophobia, which is an abnormal and persistent fear of stairs or steep slopes, or a fear of falling.
Discussion:
EconLog

Internal grumbling on GOP's healthcare message intensifies — Republican leaders on Capitol Hill are facing a mini-rebellion against their message on healthcare reform. — Every GOP lawmaker rejected the Democrats' bill last month, but the party is now split on whether to call for a full repeal of the new law.