Today's edition of quick hits:
* Syria: "President Obama on Monday threatened military action against Syria if there was evidence that the government of President Bashar al-Assad was moving its stocks of chemical or biological weapons. It was Mr. Obama's most direct warning of American intervention in Syria, where Mr. Assad's military is fighting an 18-month-old rebellion."
* Afghanistan: "Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Afghanistan on Monday for discussions on the progress of the war, including an intensified wave of insider attacks by Afghan forces on NATO service members, even as New Zealand became the latest coalition partner to announce an accelerated troop withdrawal."
* Mars Curiosity rover can shoot lasers. If that's not cool, I don't know what is.
* Long overdue: "Augusta National Golf Club, the private club that hosts the Masters and has come under attack over the past decade because of its all-male membership, announced Monday that it had added two female members: Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state, and Darla Moore, the South Carolina businesswoman."
* Mitt Romney wants Todd Akin to give his future a closer look: "Mitt Romney on Monday stopped short of calling for Rep. Todd Akin to resign his bid for the U.S. Senate, as several other Republicans have done, but said the Missouri congressman should take 24 hours to think through things for his family and country."
* Fox has decided, however, that the Akin scandal just isn't important.
* The happiest man in America today? Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.), whose naked swimming in the Sea of Galilee probably would have been a big story were it not for Akin's rape comments.
* And Newsweek confirmed today that it made no effort to fact-check Niall Ferguson's stunningly wrong piece on the president. A spokesperson for the magazine said it relies on writers "to submit factually accurate material."
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
