THURSDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* In Battle Creek, Michigan, federal regulators told Enbridge Energy Partners, a Canadian company, that its “monitoring of corrosion in the pipeline was insufficient.” That pipeline has now spilled hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into a major river in southern Michigan.
* Manhunt ends on the outskirts of Kabul: “The second U.S. sailor who went missing in eastern Afghanistan last week has been found dead and his body recovered.”
* Despite some talk earlier today of a possible settlement, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) is now facing 13 charges of House rules violations.
* This afternoon, President Obama signed the Tribal Law and Order Act, giving tribes the right and resources to “investigate and prosecute rapes perpetrated by non-Natives on tribal lands.”
* Is it really that hard to get a warrant? “The Obama administration is seeking to make it easier for the FBI to compel companies to turn over records of an individual’s Internet activity without a court order if agents deem the information relevant to a terrorism or intelligence investigation.”
* The president maps out a defense of his education reform agenda.
* Better, but still too high: “The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance fell to 457,000 last week, a figure that signals the labor market will be slow to improve even as the economy grows.”
* Citigroup settles with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
* Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee want a hearing on the New Black Panther Party. They’re not going to get one.
* And the media rejoices: Shirley Sherrod intends to sue right-wing hatchet-man Andrew Breitbart.
* Congress is considering lifting a ban on Internet gambling, originally imposed by Republicans in 2006.
* Jonathan Cohn considers the “stupidity of liberal apathy.”
* Brendan Nyhan considers the persistence of the death panels myth.
* Michelle Cottle watches Obama on “The View” so I don’t have to.
* If there’s one thing the right-wing loves, it’s selective editing.
* And Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) reminds us why he’s definitely a #1 seed in the brackets for Most Conspicuously Unintelligent House Member contest.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
