Japan Faces Potential Nuclear Disaster as Radiation Levels Rise  —  By HIROKO TABUCHI, KEITH BRADSHER and MATTHEW L. WALD  —  TOKYO — Japan faced the likelihood of a catastrophic nuclear accident Tuesday morning, as an explosion at the most crippled of three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi …

Palin and the “Party of Ideas” … This wouldn't be much of a change from the intellectually empty brand of pseudo-populism that prevails right now.  What makes some of the new movement conservative anxiety about Palin so amusing is that the people cited in the article continue to perpetuate …

Fox News Signs Former Senator Evan Bayh As A Contributor … UPDATE: Fox News officially announced on Monday afternoon that former Democratic Senator Evan Bayh is becoming a contributor to the network.  —  Michael Clemente, the network's senior vice president for news, announced the move in a statement.

Fitzgerald: Dem senators won't be allowed to vote in committees  —  Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald wrote this afternoon in an email to his caucus that Senate Dems remain in contempt of the Senate and will not be allowed to vote in committees despite returning from their out-of-state boycott of the budget repair bill vote.

No More Short-Term Budget CR's  —  “Washington politicians of both parties scrambling to put together two and three week plans to keep funding the government, while not fundamentally changing the behavior that has gotten us into this mess to begin with.”  —  Our country faces a brutal reality …

Japan radiation leaks feared as nuclear experts point to possible cover-up  —  Lack of radiation readings echoes pattern of secrecy employed after other major accidents such as Chernobyl  —  Nuclear experts have thrown doubt on the accuracy of official information issued …

USA Inc.  —  If the United States were a company, what financial shape would it be in?  And what would it make sense to do to put the company on a sounder footing?  These are the intriguing questions that a group of investment analysts from Kleiner Perkins, headed by Mary Meeker, set out to answer.

NPR: O'Keefe ‘Inappropriately Edited’ Video; Exec's Words Still ‘Egregious’  —  An update on our post from Sunday about the questions that have been raised regarding conservative political activist James O'Keefe's editing of his secretly recorded video of then-NPR chief fundraiser Ron Schiller slamming conservatives.

Japan, Reno humor in Barbour's shop  —  Every morning, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour's press secretary sends to Barbour's staff and other allies a list of press clippings, along with a daily compendium of birthdays, historical notes, and jokes — which have recently included humor …

Michele Bachmann's First Action As Pres. Candidate?  Offer Her Birth Certificate  —  Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is not afraid to continue to beat the birth certificate drum as a criticism of President Obama.  Appearing on the radio show of conservative host Jeff Katz …

Don't donate money to Japan  —  Individuals are doing it, banks are doing it — faced with the horrific news and pictures from Japan, everybody wants to do something, and the obvious thing to do is to donate money to some relief fund or other.  —  Please don't.

Kansas legislator suggests using hunters in helicopters to control illegal immigration, likens immigrants to feral hogs  —  TOPEKA — A legislator said Monday it might be a good idea to control illegal immigration the way the feral hog population has been controlled — with hunters shooting from helicopters.

Lugar Says Arab League Should Pay for Libyan No-Fly Zone Obama Administration Must Also Get Congress to Declare War  —  Senator Richard G. Lugar, the Ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today issued the following statement:  —  On Saturday, March 12 …

Chamber Of Commerce's Top SCOTUS Litigator Admits Justices Give Special Treatment to Chamber  —  A recent study co-authored by conservative Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner confirms something that has been obvious to Supreme Court watchers for years — the Roberts Court places a huge thumb …

Beck: “I'm Not Not Saying” God Is Causing Earthquakes  —  Note: This has been updated from its original version to include more from Beck's rant.  —  Following a lengthy discussion involving the Japanese earthquake, bond markets, unrest in Libya, and a man who was killed trying to photograph …