CoOlDiGgY news (late edition)

Elena Kagan - Justice Stevens More Conservative Replacement

Elena Kagan, President Obama's solicitor general, is rapidly emerging as a frontrunner to replace retiring Chief Associate Justice John Paul Stevens. Kagan is widely praised as an accomplished and intelligent attorney, but is far more conservative than Stevens and could shift the political dynamic of the high court.

Conservatives are responding favorably to the potential of a Justice Elena Kagan while liberals worry that, by choosing her, the administration would miss the opportunity to elevate a genuine progressive.

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*Pope stalled 1985 pedophile case

*US government 'abused rights' of Hurricane Katrina victims

*Obama Administration Missed Chance To Get Tougher On Unsafe Mines

*America: The Grim Truth

*MSNBC’s Ratigan Breaks Down Banking Scam

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

*New York Times Insists Economy in “Recovery”

*Soros Dems Say American People Rank IRS Over Tea Party

*Consortium To Prolong Global Financial Recession For Another Year

earlier:

Justice John Paul Stevens to Retire From Supreme Court

A Liberal Voice for 34 Years, Stevens Clears Way for Obama's Second Nomination

Justice John Paul Stevens, 89, who served on the high court for a near record breaking 34 years, announced his retirement today, giving President Barack Obama his second chance to name a Supreme Court justice.

"Having concluded that it would be in the best interests of the Court to have my successor appointed and confirmed well in advance of the commencement of the Court's next Term, I shall retire from regular active service as an Associate Justice," Stevens wrote in a letter to the president, stating his retirement would be "effective the next day after the Court rises for the summer recess this year."

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*Mining Company Has History Of Safety Violations

*Study: Insurance Firms Heavily Invest in Fast-Food Industry

*Forget Gold, Here Are The Commodities That Could Have Made You A Killing This Year


*Wal-Mart Just Killed The Dream Of Pricing Power

*ACORN Staffer Reported Prostitution Claims to Police

*Congressman Stupak to Retire. Can the tea parties claim victory?

*Could the U.S. Lose Its Base in Kyrgyzstan?

CoOlDiGgY news (late edition)

Obama Aides See ‘Extended Period’ of Unemployment

March 16 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. employers won’t hire enough workers this year to lower the jobless rate much below the level of 9.7 percent reached in February, three Obama administration economic officials said today.

The proportion of Americans who can’t find work is likely to “remain elevated for an extended period,” Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, White House budget director Peter Orszag and Christina Romer, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said in a joint statement. The officials said unemployment may even rise “slightly” over the next few months as discouraged workers start job-hunting again.

“We do not expect further declines in unemployment this year,” the officials said in testimony prepared for the House Appropriations Committee. They predicted the economy would add about 100,000 jobs a month on average -- not enough to bring the jobless rate down substantially.

Today’s projections are in line with the 10 percent average unemployment forecast for this year in last month’s budget plan. Christopher Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York, said the administration’s language risks damping expectations for a recovery.

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*Black and Latinos Face Longer Prison Sentences

*EU backs Greek austerity as standby aid readied

*Pink slips issued to 23,000 California teachers

*Cancer Costs More Than Doubled in 40-Year Fight

*The Euro will collapse either totally or in part



earlier:

Thai red-shirts splash blood in anti-government protest

Thailand's red-shirt demonstrators have splashed blood under the gates of Government House in a protest against a leadership they say is illegitimate

Earlier the protesters lined up to donate their blood, as the anti-government rallies entered a third day.

So far the protests have remained peaceful and both sides say they want to avoid violence.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Monday rejected a demand from protesters to quit and call elections.

The stand-off is the latest in a deep political schism in the country linked to the 2006 military coup which deposed former leader Thaksin Shinawatra.

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*Stevens weighs summer retirement from Supreme Court

*Governors feel left out on health care

*Bacteria On Your Fingertips Could Identify You

*Senator Kaufman: Fraud Still at the Heart of Wall Street

*Thirty-one percent of Americans believe Toyotas unsafe

*Magnitude 4.4 quake rattles Los Angeles