Responding to Syrian Atrocities  —  There is little doubt now that President Obama is planning some kind of military response to what the administration says without equivocation was a chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government that killed hundreds of civilians.

Strike against Syria ‘catastrophic’  —  Russia and China have stepped up their warnings against military intervention in Syria, with Moscow saying any such action would have “catastrophic consequences” for the region.  —  The US and its allies are considering launching strikes on Syria in response to deadly attacks last week.

Experts to Obama: Here Is What to Do in Syria  —  A big group of foreign policy experts, from across the ideological spectrum, is calling on President Obama to impose “meaningful consequences on the Assad regime” for their use of chemical weapons.  —  “At a minimum, the United States …

Military Strikes Are an Extremely Expensive Way to Help Foreigners  —  A few months back, I ran into one of the founders of GiveWell, the charity evaluation website, and he thanked me for having talked up GiveDirectly the charity based around helping to fight global poverty by directly transferring money to poor people.

Military strikes on Syria ‘as early as Thursday,’ US officials say  —  United States intelligence officials are convinced the Syrian regime used chemical weapons against rebels last week, and are building their case for military action without putting troops on the ground.  NBC's Richard Engel reports.

Obama, race and class  —  Martin Luther King and Barack Obama, the two most important black leaders in American history, operated in vastly different eras and political arenas — under a strikingly similar set of ground rules.  —  King and Obama — born 32 years apart …

Conservative blacks irritated with liberal flavor of march anniversary  —  Black conservatives are rankled by the liberal flavor of events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.  —  They contend the left is appropriating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s memory …