Saturday morning roundup

Activism matters! Japan cut short its whale hunt.

Will Egyptian women be able to leverage their role in the revolution into lasting social and political power?

In writing about India's wishy-washy position on the Middle East protests, this journalist pushed the 'on the fence' cliche/metaphor to a new level of cringe.

By now you know that Big Bird has lost out to NASCAR, at least for now. While we're on the topic of what to invest in, Charles Blow has some more indices for us. According to Bowles and Simpson, there's still hope for budgetary sanity.

Ooh! A metaconspiracy! Karl Rove suggests birtherism is a White House plot to make the right look bad.

Spending bills, and the issues they prioritize or diminish, are often theoretical to us as individuals (I, personally, don't watch Sesame Street anymore, which is not to say I don't think it's important). Here's an issue with practical implications for me on both sides of the issue: I definitely hear the traffic coming in and out of National. And I definitely love not trekking to Dulles to be able to travel across the country.

Grist kindly requests that journalists quit manufacturing a vegan/manliness dichotomy.

Is this expose really that outlandish? I sort of sympathize, since most of the time I spend with my cat, I'm either ignoring her or telling her to shut up.