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Forget what the CNBC squawkers tells you. We are not out of the woods yet. Economic measures continue to track remarkably closesly with the downturn in 1929, the start of the Great Depression. These charts, by Barry Eichengreen of the University of California at Berkeley and Kevin O’Rourke of Trinity College, Dublin, tell the …

Matt Duss on Robert Kagan’s op-ed today in the Washington Post. I have nothing to add to that.

In May, 2008, Robin Beaton, a retired registered nurse from Waxahachie, Texas, went to her dermatologist to be treated for acne. He mistakenly wrote down something on her chart that made it appear that she might have a pre-cancerous skin condition.

Not a big deal, right? It shouldn’t have been, except that soon after that, she was …

Nevada Sen. John Ensign, a Republican rumored to harbor presidential aspirations, has admitted he had an extramarital affair with a former campaign aide. Yes, I know, you’ve read this story before. But just think: Ensign could be the first Senator to admit his secret sexual dalliances on Twitter. Don’t hold your breath.

Politico has …

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rbUH_iVjYw&hl=en&fs=1&]

The last of the war supplemental bills – from now on in the Administration is folding such requests into the normal budgeting process – is on the floor in the House today. The vote is expected to be close: “I think we have the votes,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters in his weekly pen and pad session this morning, …

For two years now, John McCain has been entirely consistent on Iran: every last statement he’s made–at least, those that I’ve seen–has been (a) fabulously uninformed and (b) dangerously bellicose. He’s still at it, apparently. There is no question that President Obama’s more prudent path is the correct one right now. There is also no …

Well, I’m back, safe and sound…and jet-lagged. I’ll obviously have a lot to say about my Iran visit in the print magazine this week. For the moment, this David Ignatius column about the CIA analysis of the crisis reflects my thinking. What it doesn’t convey is how splendid the Iranian people are–charming, well-educated, for the most …

A group of 13 federal agencies, coordinated by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, has produced a report on the science behind Global Warming. The conclusions:

1. Global warming is unequivocal and primarily human-induced.
2. Climate changes are underway in the United States and are projected to grow.
3. Widespread

…

In today’s New York Times, Neil MacFarquhar describes the dilemma facing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei like this: “He now faces a nearly impossible choice. If he lets the demonstrations swell, it could well change the system of clerical rule. If he uses violence to stamp them out, the myth of the popular mandate for the Islamic revolution …

Kate Pickert sorts it out.

Massimo Calabresi and I have been able to confirm the Haaretz report that Dennis Ross is moving from the State Department, where he was a special adviser on Southwest Asia and the Gulf (read: Iran), to the National Security Council. Read our story here. Administration advisers say it is a promotion: “He is closer to being able to provide …

Before boarding a flight to the U.S. on Sunday, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said that he was heading to Washington “handsome and tanned.” This was a joke–if you can call it that. Back in November, after President Obama won election, Berlusconi had described the new American leader as “young, handsome and sun-tanned.” …