memeorandum: Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant evacuated (Justin McCurry/Guardian)

5:40 AM ET, March 16, 2011

Top Items:

Last Defense at Troubled Reactors: 50 Japanese Workers — A small crew of technicians, braving radiation and fire, became the only people remaining at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station on Tuesday — and perhaps Japan's last chance of preventing a broader nuclear catastrophe.

Discussion: CNN, World's Only Rational Man, Guardian, Los Angeles Times, The Hill, Pam's House Blend, Hot Air, New York Magazine, Clusterstock and Kyodo News

Associated Press:

Japan suspends work at stricken nuclear plant — FUKUSHIMA, Japan - Japan suspended operations to keep its stricken nuclear plant from melting down Wednesday after surging radiation made it too dangerous to stay. — Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the workers dousing the reactors …

Discussion: Sky Dancing, The Moderate Voice, New York Times and Al Jazeera Blogs

Tom Zeller Jr / New York Times:

Experts Had Long Criticized Potential Weakness in Design of Stricken Reactor — The warnings were stark and issued repeatedly as far back as 1972: If the cooling systems ever failed at a “Mark 1” nuclear reactor, the primary containment vessel surrounding the reactor would probably burst as the fuel rods inside overheated.

Discussion: Reuters, The Atlantic Online, The Huffington Post, CANNONFIRE, BuzzFlash.org, Hot Air, Washington Post, msnbc.com, All Things Nuclear, Al Jazeera Blogs and Firedoglake

CNN:

Handful of ‘heroes’ battles to keep nuclear plant under control — Tokyo (CNN) — After three explosions and a fire in four days, the situation at Japan's earthquake-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant grew more serious Tuesday, chasing all but a handful of workers from the site …

Discussion: Clean Beta, World's Only Rational Man, Climate Progress and Firedoglake

Justin McCurry / Guardian:
Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant evacuated

Discussion: Kyodo News

Guardian:
Fukushima 50 battle radiation risks as Japan nuclear crisis deepens

Discussion: Reuters, The Daily Beast, Clusterstock, Sky Dancing and Boing Boing

New York Times:
In Fuel-Cooling Pools, a Danger for the Longer Term

Discussion: Daily Kos, Washington Post, Kyodo News, The Democratic Daily, ABC News, The Atlantic Online, democracyarsenal.org, New York Magazine and The Daily Beast

Jon Gillooly / mdjonline.com:

John McCain's daughter speaks at KSU; wants Romney, not Palin, for president — KENNESAW - Sen. John McCain's daughter, Meghan, told a Kennesaw State University audience Monday evening that she wants to see Mitt Romney, not Sarah Palin, challenge Barack Obama for president.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and The Daily Caller

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

More from our Republican poll — In addition to the standard horse race stuff on our national Republican poll this month we also polled on some of Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich's vulnerabilities- we described their potential baggage to poll respondents without actually naming them as the candidates in question.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Monthly, Weigel and GOP 12

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Exploring Alternative Republican Universes

Discussion: Hot Air, GOP 12, Fox News and Gallup

David Weigel / Weigel:

Rick Scott, John Kasich, Scott Walker, and a GOP Problem for 2012 — I was talking the other day to a Democrat who'd been battle-scarred by the 2010 Florida campaign, in which Democrats lost everything. Everything. Alan Grayson's career died quickly. Kendrick Meek became a trivia question.

Discussion: Doug Ross, No More Mister Nice Blog, A plain blog about politics, Mother Jones and Althouse

Benjy Sarlin / TPMDC:

House GOP Declares Emergency ... Over NPR Funding — House Republicans are holding an emergency meeting of the Rules Committee on Wednesday to take up legislation that would block funding to NPR in the wake of James O'Keefe's hidden camera prank on the news organization.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Hot Air, The Political Carnival, Daily Kos and Gawker

Jamison Foser / Media Matters for America:
How NPR Helped Empower James O'Keefe

Discussion: Liberal Values, Balloon Juice and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Keach Hagey / The Politico:
House committee moves again to defund NPR

Discussion: The Raw Story, ECHIDNE of the snakes, CNN and Weasel Zippers

Keith Koffler / White House Dossier:

President Obama's Trivial Pursuits — The Middle East is afire with rebellion, Japan is imploding from an earthquake, and the battle of the budget is on in the United States, but none of this seems to be deterring President Obama from a heavy schedule of childish distractions.

Discussion: HazZzMat, Swampland, UrbanGrounds, Guardian and TPMDC

Jim Geraghty / National Review:
While Japan Burns, Obama Fills Out His Bracket

Discussion: Lynn Sweet, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, The Daily Caller, TigerHawk, The Politico, The Lonely Conservative, NewsBusters.org blogs, Weasel Zippers, Pajamas Media, Commentary Magazine, Outside the Beltway, Grim's Hall, Pundit & Pundette, Doug Ross and The Page

Sarah Palin / Facebook:

The $4-Per-Gallon President — Is it really any surprise that oil and gas prices are surging toward the record highs we saw in 2008 just prior to the economic collapse? Despite the President's strange assertions in his press conference last week, his Administration is not a passive observer …

Discussion: The Politico, Associated Press and Climate Progress

Carrie Dann / msnbc.com:

Clinton: No U.S. support for Libya no-fly zone — From Cairo, NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports on the ongoing negotiations over a no-fly zone in Libya. — Carrie Dann writes:We wrote this morning that lawmakers - and the public - are split about whether the United States should implement …

Discussion: TPMDC, Hot Air, National Review and Guardian

Political Punch:
Young Leaders of Egypt's Revolt Snub Clinton in Cairo

Discussion: Mediaite, YID With LID and Weasel Zippers

JSOnline:

Senate Republicans to drop contempt finding against Democrats — By Jason Stein and Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel — Madison — The top GOP leader in the state Senate backtracked Tuesday, saying Republicans would lift fines and a contempt finding against Democrats …

Discussion: WisPolitics Budget Blog, Cubachi, Firedoglake, Hot Air, TPMDC, Fox Nation, Ben Smith's Blog, Liberty Pundits Blog and The Lonely Conservative

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Unions vs. the little guy in Wisconsin recall fight — Chief Political Correspondent Follow Him @ByronYork — If you're a Republican, it's a scenario straight out of “Alice in Wonderland.” Fourteen Wisconsin state senators, all Democrats, flee the state for three weeks …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and theblogprof

Aharding / CNN:

CNN Poll: Most say govt. shutdown bad; Tea Party disagrees — Washington (CNN) - Most Americans say that a federal government shutdown would be bad for the country, according to a new national poll. — But a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey also indicates that Democrats and Republicans …

Discussion: The Note, Ben Smith's Blog and New York Times

Edward L. Glaeser / Economix:
If the Tea Party Went Downtown

Discussion: Democracy in America, Grist and The New Republic

Daily Mail:

Snake dies from silicone poisoning after biting model's breast during photoshoot — It should have been an alluring photoshoot between two of nature's beautiful creatures as a model wrapped herself in a snake. — But surgically enhanced Israeli model Orit Fox got more than she bargained …

Rich Lord / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

5 guns seized in Armstrong County raid had been reported stolen — Five guns seized in an accused Islamic radical's Armstrong County bedroom had been reported stolen, federal prosecutors said in a court filing today. — The guns were among 21 taken in January when the Federal Bureau …

Discussion: Pajamas Media

Kendra Marr / The Politico:

Bachmann plays the victim — Michele Bachmann fired back at the media Tuesday, saying her Revolutionary War gaffe was only reported because she is a conservative politician. — “We all know there's a double standard in the media ... as we know all 3,400 members of the mainstream media …

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, Salon, Weigel, Indecision Forever and National Review

Brent Budowsky / The Hill:

Jimmy Carter was right — For 40 years, America's energy policy has been a bipartisan disaster. Since the early 1970s America's dependence on foreign oil has threatened our economy, security and national honor as we corrupted our foreign policy to satisfy our thirst for oil. — Nixon failed.

Associated Press:

Obama: No. 1 seeds will rule in NCAA tournaments — WASHINGTON - March Madness is back at the White House, and President Barack Obama is picking the top seeds to advance to the Final Four. — For the third straight year, Obama has filled out an NCAA tournament bracket for ESPN.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers

Nellie Andreeva / Deadline.com:

Netflix To Enter Original Programming With Mega Deal For David Fincher-Kevin Spacey Series ‘House Of Cards’ — EXCLUSIVE: Video streaming juggernaut Netflix is becoming an original series player. In what is probably the biggest gamble in its 14-year history, I hear Netflix …

Discussion: Mashable! and TechCrunch, more at Mediagazer »

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Rand Paul ratchets his proposed spending cuts down to $200B — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has ratcheted down his proposal to cut $500 billion from the federal budget for fiscal year 2011. — Paul on Tuesday introduced an amendment on the Senate floor to cut $200 billion over the next six-and-a-half months.

Discussion: CNN