Tsunami hits north-eastern Japan after massive quake  —  A massive earthquake has hit the north-east of Japan, triggering a tsunami that has caused extensive damage.  —  Japanese television showed cars, ships and even buildings being swept away by a vast wall of water after the 8.9-magnitude earthquake.

Obama Seeks a Course of Pragmatism in the Middle East  —  WASHINGTON — In the Middle East crisis, as on other issues, there are two Barack Obamas: the transformative historical figure and the pragmatic American president.  Three months after a Tunisian fruit vendor set himself aflame …

The State Department spokesman and the Prisoner in the Brig  —  I just heard an extraordinary remark from State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley.  He was speaking to a small audience at MIT on “the benefits of new media as it relates to foreign policy”, an event organised by the Center for Future Civic Media.

Dumbing Deficits Down  —  Like anyone who writes regularly about what passes for economic and fiscal debate in American politics, I've developed a strong tolerance for nonsense.  After all, if I got upset every time powerful people were illogical and/or dishonest, I'd spend every waking hour in a state of raging despair.

After GOP denials, Scarborough says he was courted for Senate  —  MSNBC host Joe Scarborough on Friday said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has asked him about running against Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) in 2012.  —  Scarborough said in an interview with The Hill, “John suggested last month …

Walker signs budget-repair bill, rescinds layoffs  —  By Don Walker, Jason Stein and Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel  —  Madison - Gov. Scott Walker signed the bill Friday that repeals most collective bargaining by public employee unions.  —  He signed the bill in the morning …

Lawmaker advocates eugenics  —  A 91-year-old state representative told a constituent that he believes in eugenics and that the world would be better off without “defective people.”  —  Barrington Republican Martin Harty told Sharon Omand, a Strafford resident who manages a community mental health program …

Along for the Ride  —  Republican presidential hopefuls aren't so much leading as reacting.  That could hurt them in 2012.  —  Politics, like nature, abhors a vacuum.  —  Proving that truism, the slowly emerging class of Republican presidential candidates increasingly looks like a bunch of bystanders.

Bachmann increasingly serious about presidential bid  —  Washington (CNN) - Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann is increasingly serious about joining the wide-open race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.  —  And a growing number of conservative activists, legislators …

Emergency Declared at Japanese Nuclear Plant  —  The Japanese government declared an “atomic power emergency” and evacuated thousands of residents living close to a nuclear plant in northern Japan after a major earthquake, but officials said there had been no radiation leak from the facility …

Sen. Ron Johnson denounces ‘mob rule’  —  Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), a former businessman and now a freshman senator, held a conference call Thursday afternoon with a small group of bloggers.  For a freshman, he's entirely fluid on the issues and easily navigates between specifics and larger themes.

Earthquake turns TV networks into print  —  An 8.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Japan yesterday, and a tsunami is spreading, right now, across the Pacific ocean.  Thus we have much news that is best consumed live and uncooked.  Here's mine, right now:  —  Not many of us carry radios in our pockets any more.

Viral post pits coverage of Sheen, fallen soldiers  —  It started with a Facebook status update.  Upset at the media's coverage of Charlie Sheen, someone took up for American soldiers dying in Afghanistan.  —  “Charlie Sheen is all over the news because he's a celebrity drug addict,” …

Ricardian Confusions, Continued (Seriously Wonkish)  —  I wrote yesterday about the sad persistence of misunderstanding, on the part of Ricardian equivalence types, of how their own models work.  Nick Rowe has a critique of my critique, in which he makes a good point about measuring output.

German Authorities Confirm that Frankfurt Shooter Viewed De Palma Clip  —  The combination of fictional American “atrocities” and radical Islamic preaching appears to have led Arid Uka to kill.  —  According to the German wire service dapd, the German Attorney General's Office has confirmed …