THURSDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* An unexpected rise in home sales and drop in the share of foreclosures on the market sent stocks soaring on Wall Street.
* North Korea has taken to taunting and mocking Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. What officials hopes to accomplish with this is unclear.
* As corruption scandals go, this one out of New Jersey is a real doozy.
* By October, the U.S. expects to have 160 million vaccines ready in response to the H1N1 virus.
* Bryant Neal Vinas, a 26-year-old American who helped al Qaeda, is now cooperating with U.S. authorities and is likely to provide valuable intelligence.
* House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) refuses to apologize for his bogus attacks against Speaker Pelosi regarding the CIA.
* The White House released materials last night, documenting meetings with health industry officials over the last several months. Officials had initially resisted the disclosure, though there’s nothing especially scandalous in the records.
* Organizing for America is ramping up its organizing efforts, including support for a public option as one of the key principles to health care reform.
* The next time you hear a GOP lawmaker brag that the “Lewin Group” is “independent” and “non-partisan,” keep mind that it’s owned by a health insurance company.
* Scandal-plagued Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) has lost his chief of staff.
* Wouldn’t it be great if we could go a few days without hearing of another racist anti-Obama email being circulated by a prominent conservative activist/official? Too much to ask?
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
