FRIDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Libya: “Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s government widened its counterattack on its rebel opponents Friday, waging fierce battles to wrest control of the town of Zawiya from rebel troops, attacking an eastern oil town and firing on peaceful protesters after Friday prayers in Tripoli, witnesses said.”
* As Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) sees voters abandoning him, are his GOP allies in Madison starting to waver? Maybe.
* Oil prices have reached a 29-month high.
* I wonder how much this will cost taxpayers? Aren’t we too broke to defend discriminatory laws in court just to make the GOP base happy? “House Speaker John Boehner said Friday he is launching a legal defense by the House of the federal law against gay marriage, which President Barack Obama’s administration has concluded is unconstitutional.”
* After an absence that lasted more than four decades, the military’s Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) is returning to Harvard.
* Finally, evidence of actual voter fraud — which Republicans have sought for years — comes to public light. Unfortunately for the GOP, the voter fraud was committed by Indiana’s Republican Secretary of State. (thanks to R.S. for the tip)
* Jared Bernstein enjoys job-related charts almost as much as I do.
* If your family likes Big Bird and Elmo, the House Republican agenda is clearly problematic.
* Jared Lee Loughner is now facing 49 federal charges, as Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) continues on the road to recovery.
* Is the jobs picture even better than this morning’s data suggests? David Leonhardt makes the case.
* In Wisconsin, the Walker administration would have us believe it will cost $7.5 million to clean up the Capitol after protestors leave. He’s almost certainly lying.
* A great pickup for HuffPost: “Media reporter Michael Calderone is moving on from Yahoo after just one year. Calderone confirmed via Twitter that Arianna Huffington has recruited him to join the new AOL-Huffington Post conglomerate.”
* In 2003, did Newt Gingrich write a bizarre memo to Donald Rumsfeld, suggesting military strikes in Gaza? Well, sort of.
* And if you missed Jon Stewart’s segment comparing school teachers to Wall Street — and how the right looks at both — take a few minutes to watch it.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
