Oh. Hey. This isn't good:

A chunk of Antarctic ice about seven times the size of Manhattan suddenly collapsed, putting an even greater portion of glacial ice at risk, scientists said Tuesday.

Well, at least global warming isn't real, am I right? Hello?

Senator Russ Feingold's Progressive Patriot Fund "is dedicated to promoting a progressive reform agenda and supporting candidates across the country." Recently they had a contest in which you could vote on which they supported next, and Texas' own Senate candidate Rick Noriega was in the running. Today the Progressive Patriot Fund announced that Rick Noriega was the winner, and as the newest Progressive Patriot will receive a $5,000 contribution. Congratulations, Rick.

Apparently you can't have an idea these days without having to 'play election-year politics' with whatever issue it concerns, so John McCain is going to wait and see how this whole housing thing plays out before cooking up a plan. It is not exactly what I would refer to as a strategy, but hey, if you don't have any economic ideas, why hedge about it? Am I right?

Sometimes he's writing legislation championed by telecom companies soon after receiving donations from them. Others he's employing or taking bundled money from former and current telecom lobbyists. John McCain is such a maverick that he doesn't even follow his own admonitions against being down with special interest lobbyists.

Interestingly enough, Indiana is shaping up to be a late spring battleground in the Democratic primary, as the candidates gear up for a full-on campaign in the Hoosier State. The Washington Post's Anne Kornblut thinks things are starting out knotted up and discusses the pros and cons for each candidate in a look ahead to the May 6th contest.

If you have any doubt that a McCain administration would not differ significantly from what Bush has been dishing up for the last 7 years, I offer this quote from McCain about the Iraq War as evidence that he listens, considers, and pays attention just as well as our current president:

We're succeeding. I don't care what anybody says. I've seen the facts on the ground.

The big news this morning is actually about yesterday, when President Bush was briefed on a force deployment plan in the Iraq War that calls for a relatively unchanged amount of troops after the post-surge drawdown until 2009. I would argue, though, that the subtext is actually the important part:

But it now appears likely that any decision on major reductions in American troops from Iraq will be left to the next president. That ensures that the question over what comes next will remain in the center of the presidential campaign through Election Day.

If this is codified as the actual plan, as I suspect it will be, then those of you concerned that the Iraq War will be a forgotten issue in this election may have less reason to be worried than you thought.

Things that make you go hmmm:

Private National Mortgage Acceptance Company, LLC (PennyMac) is a financial services firm created to address the dislocations in the U.S. mortgage market. Our focus is investing in and servicing residential mortgage assets on behalf of private investors.

Wayne Slater reports on the Texas Supreme Court and a new report from Texas Watch that finds it takes the Supremes a long time to do stuff, a condition that is only getting worse:

Justices take an average 416 days to write an opinion after the Court has heard oral arguments -- a 31% increase from 04-05 to 06-07.

Also check out the official report from Texas Watch.

In commentary for FoxNews.com, former Texas Congressman Martin Frost suggests a path for avoiding a convention floor fight.