Quick News Highlights

No time today to do a full-scale reading list, but here are a few things that have caught my attention:

• The confirmation process of Judge Sonia Sotomayor begins in earnest today, the day after her official nomination. Reportedly, the judge began making phone calls to key Senate Democrats and Republicans, and will begin face-to-face meetings next week. The simultaneous media "vetting" continues also, with the New York Times coming out with a fairly in-depth profile of the judge today, which they also linked to her UC Berkeley lecture, "A Latina Judge's Voice," which will undoubtedly raise some eyebrows during this process.
• Former Pres. George W. Bush's Solicitor General, Ted Olson, is reportedly joining forces with his opponent in Bush v. Gore, David Boies, to file suit against Prop 8 in US district court on behalf of two same-sex couples in California. The lawsuit, on the grounds that the referendum results perpetuated a "separate-but-unequal" scenario that violates the Fourteenth Amendment, will likely be a drawn-out legal battle that is already being projected as a case that could make it to the Supreme Court.
• North Korea continues to assert itself internationally, today threatening to invade South Korea if the US and other countries continue to search its ships for missiles and other nuclear-related material, and saying that the truce that ended the Korean War in the 1950s is no longer valid. Keep an eye on this one...
  
• BREAKING: The US is considering creating a new agency for the purpose of regulating banks, according to the Washington Post:

"Senior administration officials are considering the creation of a single agency to regulate the banking industry, replacing a regulatory patchwork that failed to prevent banks from falling into the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The agency would be a key element in a sweeping administration plan to overhaul financial regulation, which officials hope to unveil in the next few weeks, including the creation of a new authority to police risks to the financial system, and a new agency to protect consumers, the sources said."