Banks to Take a Hit on US Home Loans from the Financial Times [of the UK]
"Investors in US home mortgage securities will be forced to write down a “substantial” amount of principal – up to $40bn – for distressed borrowers as part of a national settlement against leading US banks to resolve allegations of widespread foreclosure abuses, the Obama administration has said. ... The Obama administration, which recently announced the formation of a new state and federal unit to investigate alleged frauds involving home loans and mortgage-backed securities, intends to use the threat of litigation against large US financial institutions to extract additional aid for struggling borrowers, Mr Donovan said."
Kicking Down the World's Door (Tom Engelhardt) from the Nation
"...the cuts that matter are already in the works, the ones that will change the American way of war. They may mean little in monetary terms—the Pentagon budget is actually slated to increase through 2017—but in imperial terms they will make a difference. A new way of preserving the embattled idea of an American planet is coming into focus and one thing is clear: in the name of Washington’s needs, it will offer a direct challenge to national sovereignty."
Media Forced Komen Apology: With Andrea Mitchell Taking the Lead (Howard Kurtz) from the Daily Beast
"The conventional narrative is that Komen’s supporters rose up in unison, but it was the big news organizations that turned up the heat until the breast cancer organization had no choice but to melt."
Komen for the Cure: How the Group's Founder Courted Controversy (Sandra McElwaine) from the Daily Beast
"Nancy Brinker, founder of the organization that battled Planned Parenthood, is no stranger to controversy. Sandra McElwaine on how she miscalculated her most public moment."
America's Young People Turn Against 'Patriotic Bravado' (Editorial) from the Gazeta [of Russia in English]
"Young people, who are now entering active public life and building careers, are distinguished by a greater openness, tolerance and a positive outlook. But at the same time, they have a declining tendency toward patriotic bravado and perceive the theme of American greatness more calmly and with far less pathos."
White House To GOP: Only One Way Around Defense Cuts — And You’re Not Gonna Like It from Talking Points Memo
"The officials conducted the briefing under the condition that they not be quoted directly, but their position was unambiguous — the White House will not support any effort to swap out scheduled cuts to defense programs (and other automatic cuts) unless Congress passes a balanced package of deficit reducing legislation of equal or greater measure."
Obama Holds Edge Over Romney in General Election Matchup, Poll Finds from the Washington Post
"Boosted by improved public confidence in his economic stewardship, President Obama for the first time holds a clear edge over Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in a hypothetical general-election matchup, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll."
Is Obama's Coalition Re-Emerging? (Ronald Brownstein) from the National Journal
"One striking aspect of the new ABC News/Washington Post poll released Monday is how closely the internal results of its head-to-head match-up between President Obama and Mitt Romney track Obama's performance against John McCain in 2008."
A Rust Belt Revival for President Obama? (Josh Kraushaar) from the National Journal
"... the most underplayed development are signs that the president's approval rating is ticking upwards with the group most resistant to him, non-college educated, working-class whites. Over the last week, several surveys have suggested that Obama is gaining some ground with this group, in both national and statewide polling. If these gains stick, it's something that should be very concerning to the Romney campaign, which is dependent on winning overwhelming support from blue-collar white voters as part of a winning GOP coalition."
The GOP Primary Season’s Real Winner (Steve Kornacki) from Salon
"President Obama’s reelection prospects are a lot brighter now than they were a few months ago. ... To put the numbers in some context, here’s a look at how recent incumbent presidents have stood in the ABC/WaPo survey at roughly this same point in their reelection years.:"
New Poll Finds The More People Learn About Romney, The More They Dislike Him (Josh Marshal) from Talking Points Memo
"By a more than two to one margin, Americans say that the more they learn about Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney, the more they dislike him..."
The Flub Watch Never Stops for Obama’s Team from the New York Times
"Mr. Romney said, “I’d say, ‘You’re fired.’ ” Both moments were perceived by the Obama re-election campaign as another gift from Mr. Romney — now dubbed “the gift that keeps on giving” by some on the Obama team."
Clint Eastwood Makes Obama's Day (George E. Condon Jr.) from the National Journal
"President Obama's ad-makers may have to pay royalties to Clint Eastwood after a remarkable two-minute Chrysler commercial that aired on the biggest of all stages - the Super Bowl - and gave a pretty good preview of what the president's reelection commercials might look like. At the very least, the ad and Eastwood's powerful narration make it much, much more difficult for Republican front-runner Mitt Romney to keep pushing his line that Washington should have let the automakers go into bankruptcy."
Romney Rises, but No End in Sight for GOP Race (Rick Klein) from ABC News
"...this is where delegate math is not Romney’s friend, not this year. The proportional allocation of delegates — as opposed to the winner-take-all format that dominated previous cycles — combines with a back-loaded calendar to leave virtually no chance for Romney to end the race quickly, unless his rivals cooperate."
Does Romney Even Like Republicans? “Muttonheads” discomfit Mitt (Jonathan Chait) from New York Magazine
" [George] Romney's campaign was subsequently chewed to bits between the twin gears of a mindless press corps and rabid right-wing nationalists. “The rest of our [electoral] system I know pretty well,” young Mitt wrote to his father, “only one thing I can’t understand: How can the American public like such muttonheads?” Four and a half decades later, muttonhead-lovers continue to madden Romney, whose frustration has oozed out through blind quotes from his aides."
Tea Party ‘Is Dead’: How the Movement Fizzled in 2012’s GOP Primaries (Patricia Murphy) from the Daily Beast
"A giant killer in 2010, it never came off the sidelines in the 2012 primaries—and may end up with the nominee it loves least. Now a Tea Party leader tells Patricia Murphy the movement is “dead” and “gone.”"
Indeed, because what they wanted was a credible candidate who could powerfully deliver their chaotic jumble of preposterous BS. NONE of the contenders could pull it off. It was like looking for an exceptionally obese ballerina to carry off the lead role in Swan Lake.
Paul Capturing Delegates Could Force Fed Changes on Republicans (Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Joshua Zumbrun) from Bloomberg News Service
"He’s going to ask for a speaking role at the convention and try to have some influence in the party platform,” Republican strategist John Feehery said of Paul. That would likely mean adding some tough anti-Fed language to the party’s formal agenda, such as mandating an audit of its monetary policy or sharply curtailing its power by eliminating its task of promoting employment so it focuses exclusively on price stability."
For Minnesota And Colorado Caucuses, Polls Are Sparse But Hint At A Rick Santorum Surprise (Mark Blumenthal) from the Huffington Post
"On Tuesday, Republicans will attend precinct caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado and vote in a non-binding primary in Missouri. Polling for these contests has been extremely sparse, and may be just a rough guide to the outcome, but the available data suggests that Rick Santorum may have a strong showing in the two Midwestern states."
The GOP’s Economic Sabotage (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"When GOP congressman Allen West dismissed falling unemployment as “number games,” he was pointing the way forward for his party—into disinformation and deliberate destruction."
Obama's Grandmother Hurt in Car Accident from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Sarah Obama, 91, suffers minor injuries when the car she is travelling in rolls over on the way to Kogelo, Kenya."
SINGLES NUGGET!!
Singled Out: Are Unmarried People Discriminated Against? (Maura Kelly) from the Daily Beast
"From health insurance to housing, singletons get the short end of the stick. Maura Kelly explores the rights of the unwed."
HOLLYWOOD MOVIE NUGGET!!
25 Movies We Can't Wait to See from Entertainment Weekly
OUTER SPACE NUGGET!!
Is There an Ice-Spewing Volcano on Titan? Big Pic (IMAGES) from Discovery News
"Cryovolcanoes aren't like any volcano you find on Earth, even though planetary scientists think they might look similar. On Titan, the only solar system satellite massive enough to hold on to a substantial
atmosphere, the temperature hovers at around 94 K (or -290 Fahrenheit). These frigid conditions ensure that elements that can be found in gaseous form on Earth are in liquid or even solid form on Titan's surface."
ANCIENT EGYPT & ROME NUGGET!!
The Oldest Modernist Paintings from Smithsonian Magazine
"Two thousand years before Picasso, artists in Egypt painted some of the most arresting portraits in the history of art."
BARBARIAN NUGGET!!
Nice Things to Say About Attila the Hun from the Smithsonian Magazine
"As recently as a century ago, when the British wanted to emphasize how barbarous and how un-English their opponents in the First World War had grown—how very far they had fallen short in their sense of honor, justice and fair play—they called the Germans “Huns.” Yet there are those who think we have much to learn from a people who came apparently from nowhere to force the mighty Roman Empire almost to its knees."
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