TUESDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Libya: Allied fighters struck targets in Tripoli in a fourth day of airstrikes but forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi showed no signs of ending their sieges of rebel held cities, as the Security Council has demanded, while President Obama spoke on Tuesday with the French and British leaders in an effort to defuse a disagreement among the allies over how to manage the military action against Libya.
* The U.S. fighter jet crash: “An American fighter jet crashed overnight in the first known setback for the international coalition. According to the United States military, an F-15E Strike Eagle warplane went down late Monday ‘when the aircraft experienced equipment malfunction.’ The aircraft, normally based in England, was flying out of Aviano Air Base in northeastern Italy when it crashed. ‘Both crew members ejected and are safe,’ an American statement said.”
* After seeing his top military commander defect to the opposition, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh offered to give up power by the end of this year. The concession “failed to pacify anti-Saleh protesters, who pressed demands that he step down immediately.”
* Japan: “Workers at a leaking nuclear plant hooked up power lines to all six of the crippled complex’s reactor units Tuesday, but other repercussions from the massive earthquake and tsunami were still rippling across the nation as economic losses mounted at three of Japan’s flagship companies.”
* A big court defeat for New Jersey’s Republican governor: “Gov. Chris Christie’s deep cuts to state school aid last year left New Jersey’s schools unable to provide a ‘thorough and efficient’ education to the state’s nearly 1.4 million school children, a Superior Court judge found today.”
* The New York Times‘s Charlie Savage offers a good overview of the argument over whether it’s incumbent on the White House to get congressional consent for military strikes.
* After trying to gut Title X, Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) insists, “I’ve never advocated reducing funding for Title X.” Is he lying or is he not quite sharp enough to know his own agenda?
* Interesting read on the economy: “Global markets are signaling that sustained economic growth will more than make up for Japan’s worst disaster since World War II, rising commodity prices and uprisings throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Interest-rate derivatives, bond sales by the riskiest borrowers and rebounding benchmark stock indexes all show increasing confidence in the economy.”
* The next Wisconsin? “Collective bargaining rights would be restricted for many Alaska public employees under a bill introduced Monday by a state lawmaker. Rep. Carl Gatto, R-Palmer, said the bill is similar to one passed recently in Wisconsin and aimed at keeping the state on sound financial footing.”
* Fox News’ Juan Williams isn’t just afraid of Muslim Americans. He’s also afraid of African Americans.
* There was a big Tea Party convention in Tampa over the weekend. Turnout was abysmal.
* The problem with college pricing in one dramatic graph.
* A touching video on the White House blog about the health care law. It’s really worth watching.
* Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) wants to run the state “like a business,” but wants constituents with suggestions to send letters through the postal service — because he doesn’t use email. So, where do the emails to the governor go?
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
