THURSDAY NEWS: * Top read: "The financial elite's war against the US economy." * The conservative argument for environmental conservation . * "We — and by we I mean Congress, and by Congress I mean the Republicans in Congress — have again demonstrated just how broken and paralyzed our government has become, how beholden to hostage-takers, how vulnerable to extremism ." * Good read: on the place of the religious right and the Republican party. Oh, and the 80's. * Follow-up: inside the Fukushima exclusion zone. * Ten states face lawsuits over education funding. * By the numbers: comparing spending on both sides of the gun control debate.