MONDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* A good day on Wall Street, with the Dow closing up nearly 300 points (3.46%). The other indexes did even better, with the S&P closing up 3.84% and the Nasdaq up 4.1%.
* We’re apparently about this close to a deal between the White House and congressional Democrats on a short-term bailout of the auto industry.
* On a related note, I’m not at all sure we need an “auto czar.”
* Even with this package, some, including Barney Frank, expect to return to this issue in March.
* The Tribune Co. filed for bankruptcy today, drowning in $13 billion in debt. It’s the first major media conglomerate to seek bankruptcy protection since newspaper circulation began a precipitous decline. The company owns multiple newspapers and television stations, including the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune.
* AP: “Security forces overran a militant camp on the outskirts of Pakistani Kashmir’s main city and seized an alleged mastermind of the attacks that shook India’s financial capital last month, two officials said Monday.”
* Remember the September shooting in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square? Five Blackwater security guards are now facing criminal charges. A sixth pleaded guilty late last week to charges of voluntary manslaughter and attempt to commit voluntary manslaughter.
* Disgraced Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) will go to jail for five days for his DUI conviction.
* Bushies are mad at the New York Times again. It must be a day that ends in “y.”
* After decades of service, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) will give up his seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
* Good move: “For the first time, the Pulitzer Prizes will accept submissions from online-only news outlets, but require that they be ‘text-based’ submissions from news organizations that are updated at least weekly and include original reporting.”
* CNN Chief National Correspondent John King will take over the network’s Sunday morning coverage, taking the reins from Wolf Biltzer, who’ll continue to host the “Situation Room” every weekday.
* On a related note, David Gregory was officially introduced as the new host of “Meet the Press” yesterday.
* Paul Krugman didn’t exactly say the U.S. automotive industry would disappear, only that the the concentration of the industry around Detroit would disappear.
* Why does Bill O’Reilly hate Christmas?
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
