The Dish

Mike Dorning is all sunshine and rainbows:

While jobs have been slow to return, the country has experienced "an incredible productivity boom" that strengthens the economy for an expansion, says Greenhaus of Miller Tabak. Labor productivity, or worker output per hour, grew at a 6.9% annual pace in the fourth quarter, capping the biggest one-year gain since 2002. Over the long run, productivity growth is what raises living standards. Corporate profits also have been rising, up 8% in the fourth quarter, putting businesses on a sounder financial foundation to invest and hire as customers return.

Drum sees storm clouds on the horizon.

Lisa Hymas insists that providing contraception to women in the developing world is one of the simplest and most cost-effective ways to counter climate change:

Each $7 spent on basic family planning over the next four decades would reduce global CO2 emissions by more than a metric ton, while achieving that same reduction with the leading low-carbon technologies would cost a minimum of $32, according to a recent study by the London School of Economics [PDF], commissioned by the Optimum Population Trust.  And if you compare contraception to the potential costs of geoengineering, the potential savings are even more massive.

She is quick to add:

I'm not talking government mandates or coercion or heavy-handed tactics — those approaches aren't just ethically dubious, they're wholly unnecessary.

"On the web, the name on the marquee is all that counts. If you have a brand—or are a brand—you can transcend the entity that hosts you," – David Corn, on Conan's move to TBS.

Marc Lynch doesn't think an American peace plan is very likely to succeed:

I very much sympathize with the instincts of those who want to see the President take the reins and launch a bold, public initiative to push for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Without such an intervention, we may be doomed to another lost year. And it should be a major U.S. priority, linked to broader strategic interests across the region. But I'd hate to see that last card wasted  in a poorly conceived roll of the dice. An Obama speech isn't going to be enough, so if that's the play then it had better be set up right in advance.

Or why Jon Chait (and I) are not reporters.

Japan's largest business newspaper gets serious about restricting content to subscribers:

Links to Nikkei’s home page require a detailed written application. Among other things, applicants must spell out their reasons for linking to the site. In addition, regular readers of the site will also notice that the paper has disabled the ability to right-click — which usually brings up a menu including “copy link address.” The paper’s “link policy” ends on an ominous note: “We may seek damages for any violations of these rules.”

Tina Fey reprises her Palin impression:

Dawkins clarifies:

Needless to say, I did NOT say "I will arrest Pope Benedict XVI" or anything so personally grandiloquent. So all the vicious attacks on me for seeking publicity etc are misplaced. The headline is, in fact, a barefaced lie.

Marc Horne, the Sunday Times reporter, telephoned me out of the blue and asked whether I was aware of the initiative by Geoffrey Robertson and Mark Stephens to mount a legal challenge to the Pope's visit. Yes, I said. He asked me if I was in favour of their initiative. Yes, I said, I am strongly in favour of it. Beyond that, I declined to comment to Marc Horne, other than to refer him to my 'Ratzinger is the Perfect Pope' article here. How the headline writer could go from there to "Richard Dawkins: I will arrest Pope Benedict XVI" is obscure to me.

The history is as follows. Christopher Hitchens first proposed to me the idea of a legal challenge to the Pope's visit on March 14th. I responded enthusiastically, and suggested the name of a high profile human rights lawyer whom I know. I had lost her address, however, and set about tracking her down. Meanwhile, Christopher made the brilliant suggestion of Geoffrey Robertson. He approached him, and Mr Robertson's subsequent 'Put the Pope in the Dock' article in The Guardian shows him to be ideal.

The case is obviously in good hands, with him and Mark Stephens. I am especially intrigued by the proposed challenge to the legality of the Vatican as a sovereign state whose head can claim diplomatic immunity.

Even if the Pope doesn't end up in the dock, and even if the Vatican doesn't cancel the visit, I am optimistic that we shall raise public consciousness to the point where the British government will find it very awkward indeed to go ahead with the Pope's visit, let alone pay for it.

But the Sunday Times headline is a straight lie, and the paper should apologise, both to me and to Marc Horne, the author.