WEDNESDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Pakistan received an apology from the U.S. ambassador and condolences from Gen. Petraeus: “An investigation into a NATO airstrike that killed two Pakistani soldiers last week, triggering retaliatory torchings of coalition supply trucks and the closure of a key border crossing, has concluded that the incident was the result of poor cross-border coordination.”
* In related news: “Dozens of tankers carrying fuel to Afghanistan for NATO troops were torched near Quetta in western Pakistan on Wednesday, the third major attack on supplies since Pakistan closed one border crossing to Afghanistan a week ago and the first at the only checkpoint that remained open.”
* Afghanistan: “Taliban representatives and the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai have begun secret, high-level talks over a negotiated end to the war, according to Afghan and Arab sources.”
* I have a strong hunch election-year politics might have had something to do with this: “The state of West Virginia sued two federal agencies on Wednesday, seeking to reverse the stricter controls on mountaintop coal mining adopted in 2009 by the Obama administration.”
* ThinkProgress highlighted the problem yesterday of foreign fundraising from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is investing $75 million in attack ads against Democrats this election season. Yesterday, the Chamber offered a vague defense. Today, the business lobby went after ThinkProgress with a vengeance.
* Rick Sanchez spoke publicly today for the first time since last week’s radio tirade, and he apologized for what he called “inartful,” “tired and mangled” words that he said “were never intended to suggest any sort of narrow-mindedness and should never have been made.”
* For all the grief I gave Thomas Friedman over his last column, he delivers in a big way today with a terrific column on Prop 23 in California.
* R.I.P., former Rep. Karen McCarthy.
* Daniel Luzer: “Community Colleges: Their Finest Hour?”
* And finally, Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” told viewers this morning that the city of Los Angeles was ordering 10,000 jetpacks at a cost of $100,000 each. That, of course, wasn’t even close to being true. “We certainly haven’t bought any jetpacks,” police chief Charlie Beck told the L.A. Times. “We haven’t bought [squad] cars for two years.” So, where’d did Fox News hear about this? The story apparently originated with the Weekly World News, a supermarket tabloid.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
