Morning Reads: Texas Judge Blocks Obama's Immigration Order

Good morning — and happy Mardi Gras, aka Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday. Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Blocked, for now –> Ian Millhiser reports for ThinkProgress that, “in the dead of night, when much of Washington was already sleeping beneath a bed of snow, a Republican judge in Texas handed down a 123-page decision halting a key prong of President Obama’s recently announced immigration policy.” But Millhiser notes that the judge has a reputation for being an anti-immigrant hardliner, and “a majority of the Supreme Court, including two of the Court’s Republicans, have already hinted that [his] opinion is wrong.”

Fertile ground for extremists –> Yaroslav Trofimov reports for the WSJ that Libya, torn by civil war, is becoming a new “haven” for the Islamic State. AND: At The Atlantic, Graeme Wood argues that many in the “West” make the mistake of thinking of ISIS as being similar to Al Qaeda, when the two group’s goals and ideology are very different. ALSO: Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson attacked the Obama administration’s campaign against the Islamic State on Fox News because it conforms to international human rights law. He said that prosecuting soldiers for war crimes was an example of “political correctness,” and that there should be no rules in war. Josh Israel has more at ThinkProgress.

“Why St. Louis Should Move to Illinois” –> Slate’s Alec MacGillis writes that an epidemic of violent crime in St. Louis has been aggravated because “the state has exceptionally weak gun laws, a reflection of the rural, conservative nature of Missouri beyond St. Louis and Kansas City.”

Hate –> Houston police have arrested a suspect in Friday’s arson attack against an Islamic center that was followed by an outpouring of hate from some members of the local community. It’s unclear at this time whether the “transient” was in fact motivated by Islamophobia, but classes at the center’s school remain suspended. Mike Glenn reports for the Houston Chronicle. AND: The motivation behind Sunday’s attack on a Muslim school in Rhode Island isn’t in doubt — vandals spray painted a variety of Islamophobic slurs along with a helpful note: “Now this is a hate crime.” NBC News has that story.

“The war on the war on poverty” –> Michael A. Cooper, Jr., reports for TNR that while North Carolina was “ranked better than average in poverty in 2005,” the state “has since experienced the greatest increase in concentrated poverty in the country.” Now, five years after the right-wing take-over of the state’s legislature, anti-poverty activists “are on the verge of being ousted by the very same right-wing, free-market ideologues who are partly responsible for — and see no problem with — the state’s spiraling poverty.” ALSO: At The Week, Jeff Spross argues that expanding access to education isn’t a cure for “our economic woes.”

Dems divided? –> In the first months of Republican control, Senate Democrats have maintained a united front — and worked closely with the White House — to block Republicans on a number of key issues. But Fox News political analyst Juan Williams writes for The Hill that the upcoming fight over two major trade deals threatens to splinter the caucus and drive a wedge between it and the Obama administration.

No electioneering –> Israel’s election chief has ordered that Benjamin Netanyahu’s March 3 address to Congress — which will occur just two weeks before Israelis go to the polls — will be broadcast in Israel on a five-minute delay so broadcasters can edit out “any statements deemed partisan.” Luke Baker has more at Reuters.

“Housing first” –> Scott Carrier has an excellent #longread at MoJo about the “shockingly simple, surprisingly effective solution” to homelessness that has “won over a bunch of conservatives.”

One-way trip –> Around 200,000 applied to a Dutch nonprofit to take a one-way journey to Mars in 2024. WaPo’s Jessica Contrera reports that 100 finalists have been chosen, and 24 will eventually be trained for the mission. They will be divided into six groups of four, who will compete “to determine which group is most prepared to leave for Mars in 2024.”

The craziest sport in the world –> At 2 p.m. local time in Ashbourne, England, a two-day match of Shrovetide football will begin. The game consists of several thousand players, in various states of inebriation, driving a homemade ball between two goals located three miles apart. It’s believed to have been played more or less the same way since the 13th century. The only rules: No murder — and you can’t drive the ball in a car, hide it in a bag or enter the grounds of St. Oswold’s Church. Here are some highlights from last year’s match…