The Washington Post puts it starkly: 'Flood the farms to save the cities'. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must decide the best way to release water from the surging Mississippi River, destroying some croplands to protect Louisiana's two biggest cities, including New Orleans. If there's no action:
...the water would eat away at levees and could overtop sections, drowning some districts of New Orleans under about 25 feet of dirty water — an inundation even greater than the Katrina disaster.
Two suicide bombers set off devices in northwest Pakistan today, killing at least 80 people. The Taliban in Pakistan gave a statement to CNN saying the violence is in revenge for Osama bin Laden's killing and U.S. forces should be ready for more attacks.
Tokyo Electric Power says one of the nuclear reactors at the damaged Fukushima plant may have a hole in the main vessel. Reuters reports officials keep trying to fill the vessel with water but it leaks out; a spokesman says the uranium fuel rods inside likely melted, fell to the bottom of the tank and may have damaged the vessel.
The Senate Ethics Committee says former Nev. Senator John Ensign broke the law and violated Senate rules when he covered up an extramarital affair. the panel says if he hadn't resigned, the Senate would have considered expelling him. Politico says the 68-page Ensign report is filled with explosive details, including his family's attempts to pay off the woman's family. The investigation has been turned over to the Justice Department.
Here's a political warrior: John Waite is running for City Council in Spokane, Washington. He's a teacher, coach and comic book store owner: his main campaign issues are job creation, support for small business owners and, according to Seattle Weekly, 'balancing the budget Galaxywide'. (HT: Failblog.org)
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