The New York Times editors nail it today in a piece ridiculing the settlement between too-big-to-fail banks and states designed to assist anti-foreclosure efforts and underwater home mortgage victims.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all.  I’m not really all that into this festive day but I can be dragged along to get into the fun now and then.  That said, A friend has been wearing this O’Bama shirt all day today.

This morning, starting at 9:15 am EST, I’ll be having a discussion with Virgin Group founder Richard Branson on his new campaign to decriminalize drug possession and to generally knock out the rationale of the so-called Global War on Drugs.

Today, more than 800 people will attend “The US Economy Summit” organized by The Atlantic and presented at the Capital Hilton Hotel.

Former Senator and compulsive diarist Bob Graham along with former Senator Bob Kerrey (who has just announced his plans to run in Nebraska for the Senate again) have said that they think that the Saudi government may have been involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

My Atlantic colleague Jeffrey Goldberg just scored an extensive interview with President Obama in which Obama says to Iran and Israel, “As President of the United States, I don’t bluff.” Goldberg’s preamble is important and must-read, but the interview itself is vital and gives one a good sense of both Obama’s strategic strengths and weaknesses….

Admittedly, this is a little Dr. Strangelovish — but was very intrigued by this video clip a reader sent of “Robot Quadrotors Performing James Bond Theme.

  Photo credit: TED This evening, The Atlantic‘s new event series, Atlantic Exchange, will host former Al Jazeera Director General Wadah Khanfar for a discussion I will moderate titled “Arab Revolutions Televised, Tweeted and Blogged: The Exit & Entrance Interview with Wadah Khanfar.” Khanfar is now the founding President of the Sharq Forum.

Here are some thoughts on the churn inside Egypt over pro-Democracy NGO institutions that I shared on Al Jazeera yesterday. Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham see the crisis coming to a close soon, with the NGO workers released.

Gordon Shaw of Lincoln, Nebraska writes to the editors of the Journal Star: As I look over the leading candidates for president of the United States, I and many I have talked with have the common reaction: “none of the above.