Washington Readies for Huge Nuclear Summit  —  Top of the Agenda: Securing Loose Nuclear Materials that Could End Up in the Hands of Al Qaeda  —  (CBS) The nation's capital is gearing up for a very busy couple of days.  President Obama opens a summit on nuclear security Monday with dozens of world leaders scheduled to attend.

Lieberman Gets A Chuckle Out Of Peddling Far-Right Nuke Myth  —  Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), once a reliable vote in favor of nuclear arms reduction efforts, has now bought into the right-wing myth that our nuclear arsenal is deteriorating and that the U.S. needs to build new nuclear weapons.

The Better Pope  —  The world didn't always agree with Pope John Paul II, but it always seemed to love him.  Handsome and charismatic, with an actor's flair and a statesman's confidence, he transformed the papacy from an Italian anachronism into a globe-trotting phenomenon.

UPDATED: Mississippi Gov. Barbour defends McDonnell's Confederate proclamation  —  Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) might have gotten the exactly the help he didn't need from a friend this morning, as Republican Governors Association chairman Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R-Miss.) …

Romney wades into Hawaii special election, raises $1.5 million for PAC  —  1. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney will throw his support behind Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou in advance of the May 22 special election, an endorsement that will draw further national attention to the increasingly competitive contest.

In Event of WMD Attack, “All Bets Are Off”  —  Clinton, Gates Say New U.S. Policy Puts Other Countries “On Notice” to Avoid Nuclear Path Taken by Iran, North Korea  —  (CBS) The Obama administration's nuclear posture review may have removed some of the intentional ambiguity from U.S. nuclear policy …

So, 'Voicemails Expose Left's Racism'... Where's The MSM Been All This Time?  —  When I read Monica Crowley's piece on Big Government, I must admit to being thoroughly disgusted.  —  Not because she posted racial-slur laden voicemails sent to Dr. Christopher Metzler, Associate Dean …

Bishop ‘blames Jews’ for abuse row  —  A furious transatlantic row has erupted over quotes that were attributed to a retired Italian bishop, which suggested that Jews were behind the current criticism of the Catholic church's record on tackling clerical sex abuse.

General Election 2010: Labour accused of using cancer patient database for postcard mailing  —  Labour has been accused of using a Government database to target cancer victims with party political messages.  —  Personalised cards were sent to 250,000 women saying that the Tories would scrap …

Bill to extend jobless benefits faces Senate showdown  —  Congress is poised for another partisan showdown over extending unemployment insurance, as concerns about the growing budget deficit have complicated the path forward for an otherwise popular program.

Tea Party Rallies Remain a Cauldron for Conspiracy Theories  —  The Tea Party Express has toured state after state trying to kick up a debate about constitutional rights and cast doubt on the legality of the recently passed health care overhaul, all with an eye toward the 2010 elections.

US military warns oil output may dip causing massive shortages by 2015  —  The US military has warned that surplus oil production capacity could disappear within two years and there could be serious shortages by 2015 with a significant economic and political impact.

So How's the Economy Doing, Anyway?  —  Business Week's Mike Dorning thinks the economy is on the mend: … Floyd Norris of the New York Times agrees that a lot of people are being too pessimistic: … There's a lot to this.  But just off the top of my head, here are the things that gnaw at me when I hear stuff like this:

Unified by hatred of Obama, GOP still searches for challenger  —  NEW ORLEANS — Southern Republicans wrapped up a three-day meeting in New Orleans on Saturday unified in fervent opposition to President Barack Obama, but wide open at this early stage about whom they want to challenge him in 2012.