by Marian Wang ProPublica

Multinational companies operating in Libya have had to deal with many obstacles, including a government rife with corruption that often asked for what amounted to bribes.

Sometimes those companies balked; sometimes they paid them, New York Times reported today.

The Times story doesn't actually mention the word "bribes," using instead the phrase "payoffs to keep doing business." U.S. companies are barred from paying bribes to foreign officials and governments by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Read more »

Stephen Colbert isn't convinced that Japan's nuclear crisis should derail the construction of new nuclear plants in America.

Last night, Colbert noted that white smoke is still pouring from a quake-damaged nuclear reactor in Japan.

"It either means the reactor has gone critical, or they've elected a new Pope," Colbert said.

Read more »

Jon Stewart waded into the spat between Fox News and CNN last night, knocking both organizations for continuing to report on their own feud rather than the ongoing strife in Libya.

Earlier this week, Fox said they did not send a correspondent stationed in Libya on a government-led tour for fear that he would be used as a human shield.

"Kudos to Fox for so quickly putting the crisis into service of their real mission, patriotic self-promotion," Stewart said.

Read more »

Colby Hall | Mediaite

Maureen Dowd's column yesterday suggested that the primary influencers on Obama's decision to involve the U.S. military in Libya were primarily the senior female advisers (namely Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice and National Security Adviser Samantha Power.) This spawned an interesting discussion on Morning Joe today, which lead conservative pundit Pat Buchanan to suggest that women in the administration were making an emotional argument in their advice to get the U.S. involved. Hoo boy!

Read more »

Stephen Colbert came to the defense of Fox News last night for their claim that Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi was using foreign reporters as human shields.

"Fox News refuses to be Qaddafi's human shield," Colbert said, "because they're already on retainer for the Koch brothers."

Read more »

Daily Show correspondent Lewis Black came out last night in support of Donald Trump's potential White House bid because, Black said, the country is ready to move on from presidents and give dictators a shot.

America has tried all sorts of presidents, but none have panned out so well, Black said.

"What this country needs is a crazy third world dictator," Black said. "And Donald Trump has what it takes to be that."

Read more »

President Obama sucks at naming wars, according to Stephen Colbert.

"Friday, the U.N. passed a resolution calling for a cease fire. And since then, The United States, France, and Britain have not ceased firing," Colbert said.

Read more »

The Daily Show returned from a one-week vacation last night, and host Jon Stewart was stunned to discover all that had happened in his absence.

"When we left, the world's two biggest trouble spots were Wisconsin and the set of Two and a Half Men," he said. "And then suddenly, all holy hell is breaking loose."

Read more »

Hamilton Nolan | Gawker

This memo from editor Bill Keller just went out to the New York Times newsroom, celebrating the official release of the four NYT employees who'd been detained in Libya since last week. His comments on the resources the paper calls on to help rescue its staffers are interesting and worth noting.

Read more »

Mark Joyella | Mediaite

Donald Trump, who will spare no interview to make the point that he's considering, yes seriously considering, a run for the White House, broke from a conversation about another potential candidate, Sarah Palin, to talk Libya Monday morning. Chatting with the Fox and Friends crew, Trump served up a gem: bragging that he "screwed" Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Read more »

Rev. Franklin Graham thinks the tsunami that hit Japan might mean that Jesus is returning to earth soon.

Read more »

Glenn Davis | Mediaite

While Bill Maher didn't say anything as provocative on Real Time this week as, say, calling the Qur'an a "hate-filled holy book," it wouldn't be Bill Maher if he weren't antagonizing someone, and tonight he needled one of his favorite targets, the Republican Party.

Read more »

by Dafna Linzer ProPublica, March 18, 2011, 3:36 p.m.

President Obama's counterterrorism adviser, John O. Brennan, delivered the administration's most forceful public call to date for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center and the use of federal courts to try some detainees held there.

Pointing the finger at Congress, he called legislative efforts to block prisoner transfers to the United States for trial or detention an "unprecedented encroachment" on Obama's authorities to prosecute suspects.

Read more »

Matt Schneider | Mediaite

Republican Congressman Dan Burton finished his prepared remarks on the floor of the House of Representatives and was ready to yield to the next speaker, but there was only one problem: Congressman Louie Gohmert was scheduled next and was nowhere to be found.  Burton was then forced to engage in a ten minute monologue as he was advised to "keep talking."

Read more »

Six Ways Fukushima is Not Chernobyl

by Lois Beckett, Special to ProPublica

The crisis at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi has already been dubbed the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, and the situation there continues to worsen.

Read more »

Alex Alvarez | Mediaite

On his show tonight, Fox News' Sean Hannity brought on Republican Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and Democratic New York Congressman Anthony Weiner to discuss the federal budget. And, boy, did things get heated.

Read more »

Colby Hall | Mediaite

In the not-so-cleverly titled segment "Barack-etology 2011" President Obama appeared on ESPN today to show the nation how he's filled out his NCAA bracket, predicting which college basketball teams will do well in March Madness. Obama is an admittedly big sports fan, and many will this sort of light and fun activity as a chance for the President to connect with the hundreds of thousands of avid March Madness fans who are his constituents.

Read more »

Matt Schneider | Mediaite

Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is not afraid to continue to beat the birth certificate drum as a criticism of President Obama. Appearing on the radio show of conservative host Jeff Katz, Bachmann didn't bring up the birther issue, but when prompted by Katz with it, happily declared how she would be different than Obama.

Katz was amazed that his sons had to provide more documentation to play little league baseball than what he alleged Obama ever had to provide. Bachmann assured Katz how there won't be any lingering questions with her:

"I'll tell you one thing, if I was ever to run for President of the United States, I think the first thing I would do in the first debate is offer my birth certificate, so we can get that off the table."

Read more »

On Friday, a massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake, the fifth largest in the past century, struck Japan. The earthquake, and the subsequent tsunami it triggered, devastated the island nation, leveling homes and buildings and washing away entire neighborhoods.

Compiled below are some of the most shocking, terrifying, and unbelievable videos of the disaster as it unfolded.

Read more »

by John Sullivan, Special to ProPublica

As engineers in Japan struggle to bring quake-damaged reactors under control, attention is turning to U.S. nuclear plants and their ability to withstand natural disasters.

Rep. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who has spent years pushing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission toward stricter enforcement of its safety rules, has called for a reassessment. Several U.S. reactors lie on or near fault lines, and Markey wants to beef up standards for new and existing plants.

Read more »