The Commentariat -- May 28, 2013

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Obama will soon accelerate his efforts to put a lasting imprint on the country's judiciary by simultaneously nominating three judges to an important federal court, a move that is certain to unleash fierce Republican opposition and could rekindle a broader partisan struggle over Senate rules. In trying to fill the three vacancies on the 11-member United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit at once, Mr. Obama will be adopting a more aggressive nomination strategy. He will effectively be daring Republicans to find specific ground to filibuster all the nominees."

Eyal Press in a New York Times op-ed: "... a barely noticed memo quietly released by the Obama administration earlier this year ... instructs the director of national intelligence and the Office of Personnel Management to establish standards that would give federal agencies the power to fire employees, without appeal, deemed ineligible to hold 'noncritical sensitive' jobs. It means giving them immense power to bypass civil service law, which is the foundation for all whistle-blower rights."

As the Tan Man Shrivels. Jim VandeHei & Mike Allen of Politico, the Beavis & Butthead of political reporting, do have a point here: "House Speaker John Boehner, who by title and position should be the second most powerful person in Washington..., has little ability to work his will with fellow House Republicans. He has quit for good his solo efforts to craft a grand bargain on taxes and spending. And he hasn't bothered to initiate a substantive conversation with President Barack Obama in this calendar year. All of this recently prompted Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, herself a former speaker, to declare on MSNBC that if Boehner were a woman, he would be known as the weakest speaker in U.S. history." ...

... Tim Alberta of the National Journal: "For 40 years, the Republican Study Committee has prized ideological purity over partisan loyalty. That mindset now dominates the GOP.... For decades, the group was seen as a parasitic anomaly -- a fringe organization of hopeless ideologues surviving off the perception of undue moderation among Republican leadership.... But the 2010 midterms -- thanks to an influx of ideologically charged lawmakers converging with an increasingly conservative GOP -- changed everything.... The committee ... was now, for the first time in history, a majority of the House majority." Take a look at that chart of how RSC members dominate important House committees.

Grumpy Old Meddler. Andrea Shalal-Esa of Reuters: Republican Senator John McCain..., an outspoken advocate for U.S. military aid to the Syrian opposition, met with some of the rebels during a surprise visit to the war-torn country on Monday, his spokesman said." CW: I'd like to know if McCain got State Department clearance for his hotdogging expedition. ...

     ... Update. Margaret Hartmann of New York: "McCain's trip was coordinated by the Syrian Emergency Task Force, an American nonprofit supporting the Syrian opposition. A State Department official said the department was aware that McCain crossed into Syria.... The White House ... declined requests to comment on the senator's excursion." ...

... Andy Borowitz: "During a meeting yesterday with Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), Syrian rebels told the senator that he still seemed 'really bitter' about losing the 2008 election to President Obama and advised him to 'get over it.'" ...

... On a much more serious note, Dexter Filkins of the New Yorker: "... the war in Syria has spread to Lebanon. In an extraordinary speech Saturday, Hassan Nasrallah, the bearded and bespectacled leader of the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah, promised an all-out effort to keep the murderous regime of Bashar al-Assad in power in Syria.... This is a terrifying development; the beginning of a regional war.... It's difficult to overstate how dangerous this new phase is."

Digby has news for the Village People: "CNN with the latest polling on Obamacare: 'Fifty-four percent of Americans oppose President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy achievement, according to a CNN poll released Monday, while 43 percent support the law.' But, for once they asked the most relevant follow-up question: 'Thirty-five percent of the country opposes the law because it's too liberal, while 16 percent argues it isn't liberal enough.' That's right. It is not a majority position against a national health care plan or 'big gummint' or any other of the typical beltway signifiers of a 'center right nation.; It turns out that only 35% of the country has that attitude. The majority either support the plan or want more." ...

... You won't find out that a majority supports ObamaCare or wants something more if you read Politico. Kevin Robillard's report carefully omits Digby's critical yeah-but. ...

... Steve M. of No More Mister Nice Blog finds more polls that support the CNN finding: "... the GOP position (Obamacare is the worst law ever passed in the history of human civilization, and is the end of American civilization as we know it) has support well under 40% in every poll -- and majorities absolutely want our health care system improved."

** See No Evil. Mike McIntire & Michael Luo of the New York Times: "The world's firearms manufacturers have been largely silent in the debate over gun violence. But their voices emerge from thousands of pages of depositions in a series of liability lawsuits a decade ago, before Congress passed a law shielding them from such suits in 2005, and the only time many of them were forced to answer such questions.... A review of the documents, which were obtained by The New York Times, shows the industry's leaders arguing, often with detachment and defiance, that their companies bear little responsibility, beyond what the law requires, for monitoring the distributors and dealers who sell their guns to the public." CW: one reason not to buy guns: to avoid enriching these unusually repugnant scumbags.

One-Way Ticket, Please. Brian Bennett of the Los Angeles Times: "Conventional wisdom holds that most of the estimated 11 million immigrants who are in America illegally sneaked across the southern border. But Homeland Security Department officials estimate up to 40% -- or 4.4 million people -- arrived on legal visas and never departed." The immigration reform bill currently mandates a system for tracking visitors who leave the country -- something the U.S. does not now do -- but such a system would not help locate those who overstay their visas.

Tom Vanden Brook of USA Today: "Federal law enforcement officials are investigating a former Marine and several active-duty Marines after they allegedly posted threatening and lewd messages on social media sites that targeted President Obama and a California congresswoman [Jackie Speier (D-Calif.)], according to a government official informed of the investigations."

Paul Krugman's "maudlin memories" of his youthful stay in Portugal ends on a substantive note: "... the European project, the construction of peace, democracy, and prosperity through union, is one of the best things that ever happened to humanity. And that's why the misguided policies that are tearing Europe apart are such a tragedy."

BBC News: "Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt has said he is 'perplexed' by the ongoing debate over the company's tax contributions in the UK. Mr Schmidt told the BBC that the company did what was 'legally required' to pay the right amount of taxes.... Mr Schmidt said it was up to the government to change its tax system if it wanted companies to pay more taxes." CW: big corporate executives are right to fault legislators for Swiss-cheesing tax laws with loopholes, but of course it is these very same corporations who bribe lobby lawmakers into writing the loopholes. Nothing too "perplexing" about that, Eric.

Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker on what News Corp. knew about the James Rosen subpoenas and when they knew it. Not surprisingly, there are conflicting accounts. ...

... Mr. Holder Regrets. Daniel Klaidman of the Daily Beast on AG Eric Holder's culpability in the Rosen case & how he intends to think about thinking about establishing guidelines that might prevent him from signing off on subpoenas of reporters' correspondence in the future. Bear in mind as you read that Klaidman's source is Eric Holder.

"Sex & the City" Comes to White House. Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post stroganoffs Kathryn Ruemmler: "It may say more about Washington than White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler that she's known in the West Wing for her fabulous shoes.... She wears Manolo Blahniks and Christian Louboutins into the Oval Office." CW: yes, indeed. Jack Lew is known for his wingtips & when anyone mentions Jay Carney, his Gucci glasses come first to mind.

** Frank Rich writes a moving & "elliptical" account of an early mentor -- Clayton Coots, a closeted gay man.

Local News

Kelly Heyboer of the Star-Ledger: "Rutgers President Robert Barchi released a statement today backing the university's new athletic director as she faces allegations she verbally and mentally abused players while she was a volleyball coach in the 1990s."

News Ledes

Our Far-Flung Diplomatic Corps. New York Times: "Two staff members of the American Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, were shot and wounded at a strip club there early Tuesday, according to officials. The two men were members of the support staff in the office of the defense attaché, according to a State Department official.... The official said there was no immediate indication of a political motive behind the shootings, which appeared to have occurred after a fight broke out in the club."

The PayPal of the Underworld. New York Times: "The operators of a global currency exchange, [Liberty Reserve,] ran a $6 billion money-laundering operation online, a central hub for criminals trafficking in everything from stolen identities to child pornography, federal prosecutors in New York said on Tuesday."

The Commentariat -- May 27, 2013

On Memorial Day, Juan Cole remembers conscientious objector Henry David Thoreau.

hollowed: having an indentation or inward curve
hallowed: holy, consecrated, sacred, revered

-- Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Of Course They Were "Targeted." Nicholas Confessore & Michael Luo of the New York Times: "Representatives of these organizations have cried foul in recent weeks about their treatment by the I.R.S., saying they were among dozens of conservative groups unfairly targeted by the agency, harassed with inappropriate questionnaires and put off for months or years as the agency delayed decisions on their applications. But a close examination of these groups and others reveals an array of election activities that tax experts and former I.R.S. officials said would provide a legitimate basis for flagging them for closer review." ...

     ... CW: congratulations to the Times for finally getting around to the crux of the controversy, something liberal writers have been on top of since the "scandal" broke. Also, good on the editors for making this a front-page story. (Plus, let's not forget the other part of the story: all 3 branches of government contributed to giving IRS functionaries an impossible task, then derogates them for doing the best they can with a mess of the accusers' making.) ...

... T. Steelman of Addicting Information: Fox "News," "the same network that is up in arms over this whole IRS 'scandal,' ..., in July of 2011 ... was on a campaign to have Media Matters' non-profit status revoked." Fox on-air personalities were teaching listeners how to complain to the IRS about Media Matters' tax status & urging them to spam the IRS. Thanks to Jeanne B. for the link. ...

     ... CW: Fox "News"s attempt to get the IRS to revoke Media Matters' tax-exempt status is not entirely analogous to the current controversy. The IRS reviews of 501(c)(4) applications were not about revoking any group's tax-exempt status, but rather about determining if these organizations should be "pre-cleared" to conceal the names of their donors. AND the IRS was not exclusively flagging right-leaning groups for this "pre-clearance" status. While I don't agree with the Supremes' interpretation that money = speech, even accepting that as a given, the First Amendment does not guarantee anonymous free speech. Nino & the Gang would agree with me on that. So what Fox was doing to Media Matters -- had the IRS bit -- would have had a much more serious direct financial impact on Media Matters than would an IRS review of Tea Party R-Us (c)(4) status.

Thanks to Jeanne B. for the lesson. CLICK TO SEE LARGER IMAGE. It's worth it.

I think they ought to put a sign on the national committee doors that says closed for repairs, until New Year's Day next year, and spend that time going over ideas and positive agendas. -- Bob Dole, on today's GOP ...

... Bernie Becker of the Hill: "Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) on Sunday sharply criticized both his own party and the Senate he served in for close to three decades. Asked on 'Fox News Sunday' if the Senate was broken, Dole responded that 'it is bent pretty badly.'"

... Steve M. of No More Mister Nice Blog points out that Dole himself, according to a 1998 New York Times report, masterminded & orchestrated "a form of scorched-earth partisan warfare unprecedented in modern political life." That is to say, the party has simply gone from bad to worse.

Ben Ambruster of Think Progress: Peter King (R-N.Y.) "The House Homeland Security Committee chairman, said on Sunday that he was 'offended' that President Obama considered moral questions about U.S. counterterrorism policy in his major speech on national security last week.... Civilian casualties as the result of drone strikes, lack of transparency in the President's targeted killing program, and indefinite detention without charge or trial and torture-like force-feeding at Guantanamo, these are all issues Obama sought to address in his speech last week and ones Peter King seemingly could [sic.] care less about. In fact, he said 'we should be proud' of U.S. counterterror policy and 'defend what we're doing and stop apologizing for America.'" ...

... CW: I'm not surprised King was upset by Obama's speech. As Jane Mayer of the New Yorker pointed out last week, Obama rejected the cowboy/"might is right" mentality that underlay the Bush administration's foreign policy. Worse than Bush, King has a sickening jingoistic worldview, bashing Muslims at every opportunity, something that Obama also clearly rejects. American foreign policy is supposed to follow moral guidelines -- we used to pride ourselves on that (even when the pride was unjustified) -- but King & his ilk are not ashamed to put raw power before morality. There's little difference between his POV & that of any two-bit despot. He does help explain why the right hates & fears the United Nations -- because its charter is to promote peace & tolerance among all nations, with no special exception for U.S. interests.

Paul Krugman: "... it does look as if there's an Obamacare shock coming: the shock of learning that a public program designed to help a lot of people can, strange to say, end up helping a lot of people -- especially when government officials actually try to make it work." ...

... CW: one possible outcome -- further dividing the country along red state/blue state lines. People in red states will envy/resent the lucky duckies who live in blue states where health insurance is affordable, but that won't make red-staters demand that they get the same deals. Conservatism thrives on existential resentment, so this will just be one more tick on a long list going back to the War of Northern Aggression -- & before. ...

... Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "Wall Street investors hungry for advance information on upcoming federal health-care decisions repeatedly held private discussions with Obama administration officials, including a top White House adviser helping to implement the Affordable Care Act. The private conversations show that the increasingly urgent race to acquire 'political intelligence' goes beyond the communications with congressional staffers that have become the focus of heightened scrutiny in recent weeks." ...

... Sharon Otterman of the New York Times: "... even as Cardinal [Timothy] Dolan [of the New York archdiocese] insists that requiring some religiously affiliated employers to pay for contraception services would be an unprecedented, and intolerable, government intrusion on religious liberty, the archdiocese he heads has quietly been paying for such coverage, albeit reluctantly and indirectly, for thousands of its unionized employees for over a decade." CW: somehow the Church manages to tolerate the intolerable when it is in its interest to do so. The fact that unions have been able to muscle the archdiosese into covering women's health needs is another example of why they are important & why the successful efforts to squelch them have been devastating to ordinary Americans.

Phillip O'Connor of the Oklahoman: "President Barack Obama came to Oklahoma on Sunday to comfort grieving families, laud the work of emergency responders and offer assurances that the nation stands ready to assist with recovery from last week's deadly tornadoes."

     ... Video of the President's full remarks is here.

Congressional Races

Politico Sounds the Alarm. James Hohmann of Politico: Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) "looked to be a top GOP pickoff target next year after his agonizing seven-month recount and legal battle put him in the Senate in 2009 by a mere 312 votes. Yet, in a turnabout few could've predicted, Franken has yet to draw a Republican opponent.... Franken's success so far fending off a serious challenger speaks to the broader recruitment challenge Republicans face in 2014.... Also of help: Minnesota — genuinely purple a decade ago -- has taken on a more bluish hue. And the state Republican Party is reeling, debt-ridden and seeking to find its way after its Ron Paul-affiliated Senate nominee lost to Sen. Amy Klobuchar by 34 points in November."

Local News

Michael Fletcher of the Washington Post on how North Carolina is becoming a model for an ultra-conservatives agenda because Republicans control both houses & the governorship, thanks in some part to the financial support of multimillionaire Art Pope, whom Gov. Pat McCrory made the state's budget chief.

Three strikes and you're out. A great university with great students and alumni deserve better. From the mishandling of the Rice situation to the Eddie Jordan thing, where they didn't know that he didn't have his degree, to a woman who can't remember that every member of her volleyball team called her to leave. You remember that on your death bed. She should go, too. You can't make this stuff up. -- Former New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey (D), calling on Rutgers President Richard Barchi to resign ...

... Craig Wolff of the New Jersey Star-Ledger: "Political leaders from across the state reacted with a mix of dismay and astonishment yesterday that Rutgers found itself flush with yet-more controversy after Julie Hermann, the school's athletic director in waiting, had been accused of mental and verbal abuse by former players while she was the volleyball coach at the University of Tennessee.... Gov. Chris Christie told NBC on Sunday morning in Asbury Park that he will 'be asking questions' about Hermann's past and of Rutgers officials."

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Designs for many of the nation's most sensitive advanced weapons systems have been compromised by Chinese hackers, according to a report prepared for the Pentagon and to officials from government and the defense industry."

New York Times: "Divisions among European Union foreign ministers on Monday prevented the renewal of the arms embargo on Syria, raising the possibility of a new flow of weapons to rebels fighting to bring down the government of President Bashar al-Assad."

Washington Post: "Hoping to use economic promise as a bridge to a peace deal between Palestinians and Israel, Secretary of State John F. Kerry announced an estimated $4 billion economic development proposal for the West Bank on Sunday that he said could cut the 21 percent unemployment rate by two-thirds."

AP: " Washington state plans to install within weeks a temporary fix for an interstate highway bridge that crumpled after being hit by a truck, tossing cars and people into a chilly river but causing only minor injuries. Gov. Jay Inslee announced Sunday that the temporary spans for the Interstate 5 bridge will be installed across the Skagit River by around mid-June, if plans go well." Seattle Times story here.

Reuters: "Heavy fighting raged on Monday around the strategic border town of Qusair, [Syria,] and the capital Damascus, amid renewed reports of chemical weapons attacks by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces."

Reuters: "A gunman randomly firing from his pickup truck killed one person and wounded five, including the sheriff of Concho County, Texas, on Sunday before the suspect was killed in a shootout with law enforcement, officials said. Authorities recovered an assault rifle, a handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition from the suspect, who was said to be 23 years old and from North Carolina. The name was withheld pending notification of relatives, the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement." ...

     ... Update: " A Texas gunman who killed one person and wounded five others before being shot to death by police was stationed at a North Carolina Marine base, the Texas Department of Public Safety said on Monday. The gunman was identified as Esteban Smith, 23, who was stationed at Camp Lejeune...."

The Commentariat -- May 26, 2013

David Shribman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, in a New York Times op-ed: "Fifty years ago, on Memorial Day in 1963, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson gave a speech in Gettysburg, Pa., that foreshadowed profound changes that would be achieved in only 13 months and that mark us still." CW: I discovered this speech about 5 years ago; it was remarkable, not just because Johnson was the leading politician of the "Solid South," but also because the President whom Johnson served was not nearly so advanced, at least in his public statements. Here's the full text.

Ethan Bronner, et al., of the New York Times: "The emerging details of [leak] cases show just how wide a net the Obama administration has cast in its investigations into disclosures of government secrets, querying hundreds of officials across the federal government and even some of their foreign counterparts."

Maureen Dowd doesn't let down Robert Gibbs, who complained last week that she always writes the same column. Today's column: "... Obama is trying to escape the shadow of the Bush presidency just as W. is trying to escape the shadow of the Bush presidency." Dowd tours Dubya's library: "You could fill an entire other library with what's not in W.'s."

Everybody's favorite whiney professor, Jonathan Turley, in a Washington Post op-ed: "Our carefully constructed system of checks and balances is being negated by the rise of a fourth branch, an administrative state of sprawling departments and agencies that govern with increasing autonomy and decreasing transparency.... The vast majority of 'laws' governing the United States are not passed by Congress but are issued as regulations, crafted largely by thousands of unnamed, unreachable bureaucrats." Turley suggests Republicans are right to block Richard Cordray's confirmation because he's to head up yet another agency with too much power.

AP: "The chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday the bridge collapse in Washington state is a wake-up call for the nation. 'This is a really significant event and we need to learn from it, not just in Washington but around the country,' Debbie Hersman said after taking a boat ride on the Skagit River below the dramatic scene where a truck bumped against the steel framework, collapsing the bridge and sending two vehicles and three people falling into the chilly water." ...

... Mike Baker & Joan Lowy of the AP: "Thousands of bridges around the U.S. may be one freak accident or mistake away from collapse, even if the spans are deemed structurally sound. The crossings are kept standing by engineering design, not supported with brute strength or redundant protections like their more modern counterparts. Bridge regulators call the more risky spans 'fracture critical,' meaning that if a single, vital component of the bridge is compromised, it can crumple."

Conor Humphries of Reuters: "The Irish government is examining options to close a loophole in its tax system that has allowed multinational companies to significantly reduce taxes they pay on profits, the Sunday Business Post newspaper reported. Ireland has been criticized by British and U.S. legislators in recent weeks for the fact that multinationals like Apple and Google reduced their global tax bills by channeling profits through Irish subsidiaries."

Phil Stewart of Reuters: "Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called sexual assault a 'scourge' on Saturday as he addressed graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where a sergeant stands accused of videotaping female cadets in the showers."

Laura Bassett of the Huffington Post: "An all-male panel of House lawmakers considered a bill on Thursday that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy across the United States, without exceptions for rape, incest or health of the mother."

If enough people were praying He would've intervened, you could pray, Jesus stilled the storm, you can still storms. -- Pat Robertson, on the Oklahoma tornado

... if your community is ravaged by a natural disaster, it's your fault. That [Robertson] chose not to blame the tornado on gay people is, however, a sign of progress. -- Steve Benen

The Lord Does Not Want You to Have Health Insurance. I think before [President Obama's] second term is over, we're going to see a miracle before our eyes; I believe God is going to answer our prayers and we'll be freed from the yoke of Obamacare. -- Michele Bachmann (also via Benen)

Benen also points to this exchange between theologian Wolf Blitzer & a tornado survivor. God bless that woman!

The Good News for Atheists! Citing scripture, Pope Francis says atheists can be redeemed through good works. CW: For what it's worth, I think Francis's interpretation of the passage in Mark is correct. It's an argument I've made before. It's only the Gospel of John -- naturally a favorite of fervent Christians -- that claims belief in Jesus is the only path to salvation. ...

... Rachel Donadio of the New York Times: "Pope Francis, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio..., has changed the tone of the papacy, lifting morale and bringing a new sense of enthusiasm to the Roman Catholic Church and to the Vatican itself, Vatican officials and the faithful say."

Local News

Craig Wolff of the New Jersey Star-Ledger: Rutgers University is trying to fix its image as a school that allows coaches to intimidate basketball players by hiring a new athletic director, Julie Hermann, who -- according to many of her former players at the University of Tennessee -- has a history of intimidating basketball players. Also, Hermann is apparently very good at blocking unpleasant memories. CW: personally, I don't think I would forget attending a wedding in which I was a bridesmaid, especially if video of that wedding was the basis of a successful lawsuit against me:

     ... Hermann also said she can't remember a letter all 15 of her players at Tennessee wrote to her in which they accused her of calling them "whores, alcoholics and learning disabled." CW: Either she has a really bad memory or she's a serial liar.

At Least One GOP Governor Is Serious about Expanding Medicaid. Mary Jo Pitzl of the Arizona Republic: "Gov. Jan Brewer sent five bills to the scrap heap Thursday in a pointed gesture intended to prod lawmakers into a deal on the budget and her plan to expand Medicaid. The five vetoes, follow-through on Brewer's promise to block legislation until her top priorities move forward, capped a tense day that saw some lawmakers receive threats over their support for the plan to provide health care for more of the state's poor."

Fort Myers News-Press: "Former GOP Reps. Connie Mack IV of Florida and Mary Bono Mack of California are divorcing, only months after losing congressional races." CW: So much for those traditional family values that caused CoMa to contract an advanced state of hyper-homophobia.

Sean Whaley of the Las Vegas Review-Journal: "A constitutional amendment that would let voters decide whether to legalize gay marriage passed the final hurdle of the 2013 legislative session Thursday but still has a long way to go. Senate Joint Resolution 13 passed the Assembly on a 27-14 vote, bringing the process to get it to the ballot in 2016 to an end for this year. All the no votes were Republicans. Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, R-Las Vegas, voted with Democrats. The proposed amendment must pass again in identical form in the 2015 legislative session before it can go to the ballot. Gov. Brian Sandoval's signature is not required." Thanks to Jeanne B.

Illinois Gets Real. Tara Culp-Ressler of Think Progress: "Illinois public schools will be required to include medically accurate information about birth control in their sex ed classes under a measure that the state legislature passed this week. HB 2675, which Gov. Pat Quinn (D) is expected to sign into law, will prohibit health classes from teaching abstinence-only curricula. Illinois' current law requires sex ed classes to emphasize abstinence as 'the expected norm,' and stipulates that 'course material and instruction shall stress that pupils should abstain from sexual intercourse until they are ready for marriage.'" Thanks to Jeanne B. for the link.

News Ledes

New York Times: "A Connecticut man who was shot and killed by the local police at the start of the Memorial Day weekend was identified Sunday by state authorities as a 75-year-old Army veteran and founder of a military museum in Danbury." The Danbury News-Times story is here.

AP: "Two women died after being swept away by floodwaters after weekend rains deluged numerous roads in San Antonio, forcing more than 235 rescues by emergency workers who aided stranded motorists and homeowners at times using inflatable boats."

AP: "Officials reacted with outrage Sunday to an audacious attack by about 200 suspected Maoist rebels who set off a roadside bomb and opened fire on a convoy carrying Indian ruling Congress party leaders and members in an eastern state, killing at least 24 people and wounding 37 others."

New York Times: "The leader of the powerful Lebanese militant group Hezbollah decisively committed his followers on Saturday to an all-out battle in Syria to defeat the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad. He said the organization, founded to defend Lebanon and fight Israel, was entering 'a completely new phase,' sending troops abroad to protect its interests." ...

... AP: "A pair of rockets slammed into a car dealership and a residential building in strongholds of Lebanon's Hezbollah militia in southern Beirut on Sunday, wounding four people and raising fears that Syria's civil war is increasingly spreading into Lebanon. Lebanon's sectarian divide mirrors that of Syria, and Lebanese armed factions have taken sides in their neighbor's civil war."

Al Jazeera: "Brazil has said it plans to cancel or restructure $900m worth of debt in 12 African countries as part of a broader strategy to boost ties with the continent. Brazilian officials said on Saturday that President Dilma Rousseff, visiting Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to mark the African Union's 50th anniversary, was set to announce a new development agency alongside the cancellation that will offer assistance to African countries."

Al Jazeera: "Protests against seed giant Monsanto have been held across the US and in dozens of other countries. 'March Against Monsanto' organisers said they were calling attention to the dangers posed by genetically modified food and the companies that produce it. Protests were being held in more than 250 cities on Saturday."