Palin Speaks at Tea Party Rally in Madison  —  MADISON, Wis. — At first, the prospect drew mildly worried looks from people on both sides of this state's giant political divide: Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice-presidential candidate, was to appear on the steps of this state's Capitol …

[UPDATED: Davenport Defiant] Racist Orange County Republican Email: President Obama and His Parents Are Apes  —  UPDATE, APRIL 16, 5:55 P.M.: This afternoon, Marilyn Davenport sent an email to fellow Orange County Republican elected officials, apologizing if anyone was offended and blasted the “liberal media” for reporting the story.

Geithner: ‘Congress Will Raise the Debt Ceiling’  —  Treasury Secretary Says Certain Leaders Won't Risk ‘Catastrophic’ Consequences  —  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says he is certain that Congress will raise the debt ceiling, saying leaders are “not going to play around with it” …

Losing the Future  —  I always enjoy the bit in Planet of the Apes where a loinclothed Charlton Heston falls to his knees as he comes face to face with a shattered Statue of Liberty poking out of the sand and realizes that the eponymous simian planet is, in fact, his own — or was.

UNMITIGATED GALT.  Whatever understandable prejudice you might have against Ayn Rand, you have to admit that the giant concrete block of her novel on which Atlas Shrugged: Part I is based could make a movie of some sort.  —  Consider all that happens in it: Dagny Taggart …

Euro vs. Invasion of the Zombie Banks  —  IS a euro held in an Irish bank in Dublin, or in a Portuguese bank in Lisbon, as sound and secure as a euro in a German bank in Berlin?  That apparently simple question holds the key to understanding why the euro zone may splinter and bring a new financial crisis.

Japan nuclear crisis ‘over in nine months’  —  The BBC's Roland Buerk says that people are pleased that they have been given some idea of how long the crisis could last  —  The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has said it expects to bring the crisis under control by the end of the year.

‘Gang of Six’ in the Senate Seeking a Plan on Debt  —  WASHINGTON — Days after President Obama called for forming a bipartisan group in Congress to begin negotiating a $4 trillion debt-reduction package, the parties have not even agreed to its membership.  Yet six senators — three Democrats …