And then came the locusts: the NWS says that almost every river in the region will flood, and four will do so "mightily." Republican homophobes all around say, "I told you so."

Round two: Amanda Knox's appeal trial opened in Italy yesterday.

Can't stop this! nuh nuh nuh nuh: state lawmakers go on a grim roll for a few hours, cutting millions of dollars from the state budget and provoking little to no protest in Olympia.

The crooks you love: Self-declared "swindlers, liars, and cheats" Penn and Teller are giving their third and last show at the Paramount tomorrow. Don't go if you still believe in the tooth fairy.

Derivatives, and the Jabberwocky: The NYT publishes long exposé on the highly secretive committee of former bankers that regulates derivatives trading. No promises that you'll understand what a "derivative" is by the end of it, or ever.

"An indispensable force for good": new docs show that the US recruited way more Nazi collaborators than had been known, and pardoned many of them. They helped, for example, Klaus Barbie get to Bolivia. ... Don't tell Palin.

All aboard?: A flawed text (there's no mechanism for compelling carbon output decreases. *Slams head on keyboard*) is approved, one-by-one, by everyone except Bolivia, whose refusal is met by, "Remove that coca-leaf from your mouth, sir, and say again?"

Assange in Isolation: WikiLeaks leading man Julian Assange has been moved to an isolation unit of Wandsworth prison in London. Methinks everyone wanted to sleep with him for being so awesome.