“The political forces aligned against President Hosni Mubarak seemed to strengthen on Monday, when the Army said for the first time that it would not fire on the protesters who have convulsed Egypt for the last week. The announcement was followed shortly by the government’s first offer to talk to the protest leaders.” [NYT]

Stand by for Extreme Confusion…

A second federal judge ruled on Monday that it was unconstitutional for Congress to enact a health care law that requires Americans to obtain commercial insurance, evening the score at two-to-two in the lower courts as conflicting opinions begin their path to the Supreme Court.

Well, “Obamacare Declared Unconstitutional” isn’t exactly news, is it?

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[Politico]

“Sharron will be sharing her beauty and makeup challenges during the campaign and how she overcame them! She had confidence that she would look great with 14 -16 hour days & with numerous appearances daily… so can you!” [SeneGence email, via Political Wire]

You probably don’t know Milton Levine by name. But you know him by his works.

His was an American life. Born in Pittsburgh, in 1913, to Russian Jewish immigrants. Fought in World War II. Built bridges in France and Germany. Married the USO piano player in Normandy. Returned home to start a business with his brother-in-law. Moved to Hollywood in 1952 to seek his fortune.

And there, ladies and gentlemen, there he found it.

For it was here, in Southern California, the Land of Dreams, that the fecund mind of Milton Levine conceived that Icon of American Modernity, that Symbol of Progress, the Eighth Wonder of the World:

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Our guest columnist this afternoon posted this from the American embassy in Cairo on May 14, 2007.

Presidential succession is the elephant in the room of Egyptian politics. Despite incessant whispered discussions, no one in Egypt has any certainty about who will succeed Mubarak, or how the succession will happen. Mubarak himself seems to be trusting to God and the inertia of the military and civilian security services to ensure an orderly transition. In the current political framework, the most likely contenders are presidential son Gamal Mubarak (whose profile is ever-increasing at the ruling National Democratic Party), [Egyptian General Intelligence Service] chief Omar Suleiman, dark horse Arab League secretary general Amre Moussa, or an as-yet unknown military officer. Whoever ends up as Egypt’s next president likely will be politically weaker than Mubarak. Once Mubarak’s successor has assumed the post, his first priority will be to build popular support. We thus expect that the new president will likely adopt an anti-American tone in his initial public rhetoric, in an effort to prove his nationalist bona fides to the Egyptian street, and may possibly extend an olive branch to the Muslim Brotherhood, as did previous Egyptian presidents at the beginning of their terms…

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This morning I sent a link to one of my contacts at Car Talk for their Links We Like section (I currently have a link in the top 3).  I was surprised when gmail thought the word “Oldsmobile” was a misspelling. I checked “Plymouth”, but it knows that word, presumably because it’s a place.

On the day I was born you could have walked into an Olds dealership and driven away in this car. How long ago it was: