A.M. Links: Romney Makes Up His Mind; It's a Tax, ACTA Rejected by European Parliament, Planet Formation Could Take Years Not Eons

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  • Mitt Romney's made up his mind, he says the Obamacare penalty is a tax. The presidential candidate overrode a chief advisor who, agreeing in part with the White House, said the penalty was not a tax several days earlier.

  • The European Parliament roundly rejected the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, an international agreement on internet controls signed by several countries including the United States. Will ACTA pass in the United States? President Obama maintains he doesn't need Congressional approval for the deal.
  • A Roman Catholic priest in Peru was arrested at an anti-mining protest for "organizing meetings," which is banned since a state of emergency was put in place to prevent protests at the country's largest mining project. The priest alleged through Twitter that police assaulted him at the station and the government says a prosecutor will investigate.
  • No power yesterday? George Washington didn't have air conditioning either.
  • Deadline reports a secret deal negotiated by Ari Emanuel (Rahm's brother) for an HBO Roger Ailes movie, based on an upcoming book, that would be produced by the hosts of Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. Right.
  • New observational data suggests a good portion of the process of planet formation might take two years or less.
  • Scientists aren't positive the boson they found is a Higgs, but already contentiousness is expected over who might be awarded the Nobel for it. Just give it to Barack Obama.

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