Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Market watching today, as you might imagine, was not for the faint of heart: “Stocks ended lower, but off the worst levels of the session as worries about a global economic slowdown eased and investors continued to sort through the implications of the Fed’s emergency interest-rate cut. The Dow Jones industrial average lost about 1 percent, recovering from bigger losses during the session. The blue-chip barometer opened the session down by more than 450 points. The broader S&P 500 index gave up 1.1 percent and the Nasdaq composite lost 2 percent, recovering from larger losses. The Russell 2000 small-cap index ended just 0.2 percent lower. The Russell is considered to be in a bear market, having tumbled more than 20 percent off its highs from last summer. Treasury prices rallied, lowering the corresponding yields as investors bet on the comparative safety of government debt. Oil prices fell and gold prices climbed.”
* On a related note, McClatchy has a nicely-done Q&A: “With the market dropping, the economy softening and prices spiking, it’s an unsettling time for most Americans. Here are some answers to key questions consumers face.”
* Bloodshed in Baghdad: “A suicide bomber pushing an electric heater atop a cart packed with hidden explosives attacked a high school north of Baghdad on Tuesday, leaving students and teachers bloodied and bewildered as insurgents appeared to be expanding their list of targets. The bombing — one of two attacks near Iraqi schools on the same day — follows a wave of recent blasts blamed on al-Qaida in Iraq against funerals and social gatherings.”
* AP: “Jose Padilla, once accused of plotting with al-Qaida to blow up a radioactive “dirty bomb,” was sentenced Tuesday to 17 years and four months on terrorism conspiracy charges that don’t mention those initial allegations. The sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke marks another step in the extraordinary personal and legal odyssey for the 37-year-old Muslim convert, a U.S. citizen who was held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant after his 2002 arrest amid the “dirty bomb” allegations. Prosecutors had sought a life sentence, but Cook said she arrived at the 17-year sentence after considering the ‘harsh conditions’ during Padilla’s lengthy military detention at a Navy brig in South Carolina.”
* What’s the latest on FISA and retroactive immunity for the telecoms? Paul Kiel has an update: “When [Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid] tried to get a thirty-day extension to that date last month, Republicans blocked it. So this morning he said on the Senate floor that he’d try again. The time pressures are real, he said, and suggested that even if the Senate were to somehow pass a bill, it would be mighty difficult to get it through the House and to the president’s desk before February 1st. The Senate itself will be a high hurdle, with Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) filibustering over a retroactive immunity provision on the one hand and Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) saying that the authority for warrantless wiretapping stems from the Constitution on the other.”
* This wasn’t supposed to happen: “From the blast and the high, thin plume of white smoke above the tree line, it looked and sounded like any other attack. The bare details were, sadly, routine enough: a gunner was killed and three crew members were wounded Saturday when their vehicle rolled over a homemade bomb buried beneath a road southeast of Baghdad. Yet, it was anything but routine. Over a crackling field radio came reports of injuries and then, sometime later, official confirmation of the first fatality inflicted by a roadside bomb on an MRAP, the new Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected armored vehicle that the American military is counting on to reduce casualties from roadside bombs in Iraq.”
* The WaPo had a great piece today on the Bush White House’s email archive system, or lack thereof, but here’s a good summary of the piece: “[T]he Clinton administration, after getting into trouble over losing some White House emails, had a perfectly good system in place by the end of its term. But the Bushies threw that out the window for no apparent reason when they came in and didn’t put anything in its place. Whether deviousness or incompetence is to blame is unclear.”
* The purge scandal isn’t on the front page anymore, but it’s still percolating and several sources said the controversy may yet have an impact on November congressional elections: “Washington’s attention has been diverted from the scandal since the August resignation of Alberto Gonzales as attorney general, and has focused instead on Democrats’ efforts to hold White House officials in contempt for ignoring congressional subpoenas to testify on Capitol Hill about the firings. But recent behind-the-scenes activity in several investigations suggests that the issue that roiled Congress in 2007 could re-emerge in the heat of the election year. Two inquiries by the House and Senate ethics committees are examining whether several congressional Republicans, including one running for the Senate this year, improperly interfered with investigations.”
* The Oscar nominations were announced this morning, and while entertainment news really isn’t my kind of thing, I was pleased to see “No End in Sight” and “Sicko” get nominations.
* In related news, the writers and the studios are apparently getting ready to talk again.
* Jonathan Schwarz has an interesting, albeit counterintuitive, look at market fluctuations and Social Security privatization.
* And finally, Jay Leno had an amusing line: “In Saudi Arabia last week, President Bush was criticized for doing a little ceremonial dance with a sword given to him by the Saudi prince. A lot of people thought the President was pandering to the Saudis. To be fair, I don’t think the President was pandering. See, I think President Bush is truly fascinated by bright, shiny objects.”
Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.