Today's edition of quick hits:
* Syria: "A day after a referendum on a new Constitution and amid sustained violence, Syria came under renewed international pressure from a long list of governments urging an immediate ceasefire and warning that Syria's leaders would not escape accounting for their actions."
* The new Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index far exceeded expectations: "A private research group says that consumer confidence in February rose dramatically."
* Eurozone: "Germany's parliament overwhelmingly approved its country's contribution to the Greek bailout on Monday, serving as a reminder that, for all of Germany's caution about funding its poorer neighbors, Europe's largest economy is still willing to muster billions to aid others."
* Oh my: "For the first time, the Defense Department acknowledged Tuesday that some cremated remains of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were dumped in a landfill."
* Senate Democrats took to the floor this morning to "condemn the unprecedented obstruction of qualified, consensus judicial nominees that Senate Republicans have been engaged in since the start of the Obama Administration." They're right.
* As if he weren't in enough trouble: "Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm urged a federal judge to spare a New York-based developer with three bribery-related convictions from serving a day in prison, the Daily News has learned."
* After having thought about it, maybe JFK's speech on religious liberty doesn't make Rick Santorum want to "throw up."
* The Wyoming House of Representatives is preparing, just in case, for the total economic and political collapse of the United States.
* There should be no doubts about the critical role Fox News has played in the Republican presidential nominating process.
* And MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, who knows about as much as anyone about the structure of health care reform, put together a pretty terrific video explaining a policy that a lot of people find confusing. It's worth your time.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
