Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Relief efforts shouldn’t be this difficult: “Relief supplies from the United Nations arrived in Myanmar Thursday, but U.S. military planes loaded with aid were still denied access by the country’s isolationist regime five days after a devastating cyclone. The military junta also continued to stall on visas for U.N. teams seeking entry to ensure the aid is delivered to the victims amid fears that lack of safe food and drinking water could push the death toll above 100,000.”
* Gun battles break out in Beirut: “Gunfire broke out in downtown Beirut on Thursday after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said recent government actions amount to ‘a declaration of open war.’ There are reports of open street battles in at least one neighborhood.”
* Good: “Today, the House passed a package of housing measures that will help families facing foreclosure keep their homes, help other families avoid foreclosures in the future, and help the recovery of communities harmed by empty homes caught in the foreclosure process. The package is the most comprehensive response yet to the American mortgage crisis.”
* Blue Dogs really do pick strange fights sometimes: “A small group of fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats is threatening to block the emergency war spending bill over a program for veterans’ benefits not offset with tax hikes or spending cuts. Because of that problem, and the efforts by House Republicans to stall floor action with procedural motions, the vote on the carefully crafted supplemental measure could be delayed until Friday or next week.”
* Terry McAuliffe thinks the Democratic race will be over in early June. We’ll see.
* Uh oh: “Is the Anbar Awakening coming unraveled? In the last four weeks nine U.S. soldiers have been killed in Anbar province. That’s up from two in the previous six months. Something to keep an eye on.”
* One of the military analysts involved in the Pentagon Pundit scandal “at one point proclaim[ed] that Rumsfeld need to get out there on the ‘offense,’ because ‘we’d love to be following our leader, as indeed you are. You are the leader. You are our guy.'” We don’t know who, but this same person went on national television where he/she was treated as an objective voice on military matters.
* Just how bad is inflation? (thanks to R.K. for the tip)
* Charlie Savage is going from the Boston Globe to the NYT. It’s a great pick up for the Times; Savage is one of the best reporters in the country.
* Did Mark Penn not realize that Dems award delegates proportionately? He denies it, and it seems hard to believe, but it’s been the subject of considerable speculation today.
* I’ll never understand rulings like these: “[T]he Michigan Supreme Court ruled ‘that a 2004 ban against gay marriage also blocks governments and state universities from offering health insurance to the partners of gay workers…. Up to 20 public universities, community colleges, school districts and local governments in Michigan have benefits policies covering at least 375 gay couples.'”
* More than 43,000 U.S. troops were sent to Iraq or Afghanistan despite the fact that they had been deemed medically “non-deployable” before they were shipped out.
* I can’t imagine why the White House press corps is so interested in the president’s daughter’s wedding.
* Russ Feingold: “The Bush administration recently announced it will allow select members of Congress to read Justice Department legal opinions about the CIA’s controversial detainee interrogation program that have been hidden from Congress until now. But as the administration allows a glimpse of this secret law — and it is law — we are left wondering what other laws it is still keeping under lock and key.”
* The telecom immunity fight is still percolating along.
* The Bushies won’t like this at all: “A military judge in the trial of Canadian captive Omar Khadr threatened Thursday to suspend the terror trial unless the prison camp releases a detailed log of Khadr’s treatment in more than five years of detention as an alleged al Qaeda terrorist.”
* Be sure to check out the addendum chapter to “Free Ride: John McCain and the Media.”
* How rough are things for Bush? His approval rating among Republicans has dropped to 60%. Ouch.
* And finally, remember the nuns who were rebuffed at the polls in Indiana on Tuesday because they didn’t have driver’s licenses? They’re really not happy.
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.