MONDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The good news is, BP’s mile-long pipe is doing fairly well in capturing some of the oil in the Gulf, and diverting it to a drill ship on the surface. The bad news is the pipe is only catching about 1,000 barrels a day — meaning it’s containing the flow, not stopping it — and the gushing continues apace.
* In the meantime, “Lawmakers on Monday voiced anger towards federal regulators and oil companies in the aftermath of the Gulf disaster, with some going as far as demanding a criminal investigation.”
* Iran has reportedly agreed to send the bulk of its nuclear material to Turkey. The White House, not surprisingly, is skeptical of the deal between Turkey, Brazil, and Iran.
* General Motors scored its first quarterly profit in nearly three years: “The $865 million first-quarter profit is a dramatic reversal from the huge $6 billion loss in the same period last year.”
* On a related note, Chrysler has paid back American taxpayers $1.9 billion, out of the $4 billion it received in loans.
* Controversial 7-2 ruling: “The Supreme Court ruled Monday that federal officials can indefinitely hold inmates considered ‘sexually dangerous’ after their prison terms are complete.” Then why bother with sentencing at all?
* President Obama’s first two nominees to head the TSA didn’t work out well. The White House hopes the third time’s the charm, and has sent John Pistole, deputy director of the FBI, to the Senate for confirmation.
* Signing the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act into law: “President Obama signed legislation on Monday intended to promote free press around the world, a bipartisan measure inspired by the murder in Pakistan of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter, shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.”
* Kevin Drum takes the Obama administration to task over its record on civil liberties.
* The global-cooling crowd has some tough numbers to spin.
* For the thousandth time, Elena Kagan is not anti-military.
* For that matter, her college thesis isn’t as exciting as right-wing bloggers would have you believe.
* Fox News’ Brit Hume, in his infinite wisdom, doesn’t think the BP oil spill disaster is such a big deal because he hasn’t seen much oil.
* If you have a few minutes, the new video from D.C. Douglas L. Baxterstein Jr. — you know, the guy who lost his Geico voiceover job for drunk-dialing FreedomWorks — is pretty darn funny. (thanks to D.M. for the tip)
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
