No, Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickenson is not manufacturing drones for the US military. Yes, this was actually something that needed to be cleared up.
This is actually very helpful; the Washington Post's Max Fisher offers up Vladimir Putin's NYT op-ed -- annotated and fact-checked.
A huge fire destroys most of the boardwalk in a New Jersey shore town that survived Hurricane Sandy. I hate to say it, but the fire also resulted in one of the best news photos I've seen this week.
A federal judge upholds Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's Act 10 -- the union-busting law that's caused so much trouble around here. In doing so, Judge William Conley offered one of the most tortured legal opinions I think I've ever seen. Unions sued to overturn the law, arguing that the restrictions on collective bargaining violate constitutional guarantees of free speech and freedom of association. Judge Conley said nuh-uh -- "Under Act 10, general employees remain free to associate and represent employees and their unions remain free to speak; municipal employers are simply not allowed to listen." Transparent judicial activism at it's worst.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett -- one of the craziest Tea Party governors in the nation -- will participate in the Obamacare Medicaid expansion.
Finally, Trayvon Martin's mother Sybrina Fulton will testify in a Senate hearing investigating "Stand Your Ground" laws. Expect the rightwing blogosphere to get extra gun-happy and racist about it.
[cartoon via Truthdig]
