MONDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Iraq: “At least 47 people were killed and hundreds were wounded early Monday morning as a series of bomb attacks struck Baghdad and an entire village near the northern city of Mosul. Nearly 100 people have been killed and scores wounded in Mosul and Baghdad since Friday in the worst outburst in violence since June 30, when Iraqis officially took the lead on national security and American troops largely withdrew to their bases.”
* President Obama, in Mexico for a summit of North American leaders, said today U.S. policymakers will get to immigration reform, but not this year, and not until after health care reform passes and the economy is stronger.
* There are still 400 people unaccounted for in the wake of yesterday’s mudslide in Taiwan.
* And speaking of natural disasters, a massive quake struck in the Indian Ocean off India’s Andaman Islands today. India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, and Bangladesh are under a tsunami watch.
* House Democratic leaders sent conservatives into apoplexy today, writing an op-ed describing right-wing efforts to shut down debate over health care reform as “un-American.”
* Keep an eye on the collapse of the commercial real estate market.
* Pentagon targets 50 Afghan drug traffickers with Taliban ties, as part of the new U.S. policy in Afghanistan.
* An armed man attended a town-hall meeting in Tennessee hosted by a Democratic congressman, but there’s no evidence of a threat.
* Nice work from the LA Times fact-checking common health care claims. (thanks to reader T.C. for the tip)
* It’s safe to say the “deal” between the White House and the pharmaceutical industry is looking a little shaky.
* Preparing for the second wave of the H1N1 virus.
* As the need for action on global warming mounts, the public desire for action fades.
* Jonathan Cohn takes down Robert Samuelson’s latest column quite nicely.
* Palin’s “death panel” gets a “pants-on-fire” rating, but Glenn Beck approves.
* It’s practically inevitable that unemployment will reach double-digits, right? Maybe, maybe not.
* I’ve wondered for quite some time about how the word “fail” went from being a verb to an interjection.
* And speaking of linguistics, I like the idea of “Rumsfeld” becoming a verb.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
