Cypriot Parliament rejects controversial plan to pay for bankster bailout by taxing ordinary citizens' deposits. And thus an attempt to literally steal from the poor to give to the rich fails, for now -- as we know, crisis always presents opportunities. (RJ Eskow provides more background here. Spoiler alert: deregulation and austerity play a big role.) Memo to those who'd point out that Cyprus intended to impose a slightly higher tax on larger deposits: pointing out the difference between a pile of dung the flies have found and a pile of dung the flies haven't yet found is a profoundly tedious exercise.

Salon asks how Frankenseed-growing corporation Monsanto "outfoxed" the Obama Administration. While the article pretty thoroughly analyzes Monsanto's war against antitrust laws in re the seed market, you have to wonder, given how often our government bends over backwards for Monsanto, whether the Obama Administration is really getting "outfoxed" here.

The 10th Anniversary of the Iraq War is upon us, and FAIR takes us on a ride through those early days, when our "liberal" media pundits couldn't get enough carnage and death, and couldn't demonize good anti-war citizens enough. The non-sequitur the New York Times spewed forth on March 21 is especially trenchant. But it's not for those easily depressed at the thought that cable news punditoids never get punished for being wrong, and never will, until we can get a la carte cable channel packaging.

Finally, National Journal wonders why so many Republicans raise money for Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), who not only had an affair with one of his patients, but got two abortions with his ex-wife. I can't help but mention that the Journal happens to mention three Democrats who paid much more and much more quickly for their sins. And they deserved it! But inveterate defenders of corporate hegemony like Mr. DesJarlais seem to get plenty of second acts.