Leftist Thugs Taunt, Harass and Insult Black Tea Party Member  —  The man is called an “Uncle Tom,” and a “Token” interspersed with calls for “Solidarity”.  Just off camera in the Tea Party is a Mom with her two small children who are black.

[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.

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.

Helen Thomas to address anti-Israel protests during Netanyahu's visit to U.S.  —  A series of anti-Israel protests, lectures and meetings are scheduled to coincide with the PM's visit and the AIPAC conference in Washington DC in May; BDS founder meets Friday night with 250 activists calling Israel apartheid state.

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.

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” …

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 …