HALF THE STORY: Don Surber notes, quoting a correspondent: … Well, that's half the numbers.  Filling in the other half (which, to Surber's credit, is linked from his post), we see that Bush is at 45% job approval and 54% disapproval, while Pelosi is at 43% favorable and 39% unfavorable.

Army asks dead to sign up for another hitch … WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army said Friday it would apologize to the families of about 275 officers killed or wounded in action who were mistakenly sent letters urging them to return to active duty.  —  The letters were sent a few days after Christmas …

Get serious, Democrats  —  DEMOCRATS in Congress plan to restore pay-as-you-go budget rules.  The rules preclude tax cuts, unless paid for by other tax increases or spending cuts.  This is mostly a good idea — but unless Democrats get serious about repealing Bush's tax cuts for the rich …

Late Nite FDL: Spocko vs. The Rat  —  Evenin', fellow firedogs!  Tonight I'm going to attempt to get us all up to speed about a situation that I suspect we're going to be hearing a lot about in the near future.  This story was brought to my attention by ¡El Gato Negro!.  —  Where to begin?

Death in Haditha  —  Eyewitness Accounts in Report Indicate Marines Gunned Down Unarmed Iraqis in the Aftermath of a Roadside Bombing in 2005  —  U.S. Marines gunned down five unarmed Iraqis who stumbled onto the scene of a 2005 roadside bombing in Haditha, Iraq, according to eyewitness accounts …

Iraqi Premier Announces Baghdad Security Plan  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Iraq's prime minister said Saturday that Iraqi forces would launch a new effort — with U.S. troops in a supporting role — to wrest control of Baghdad's neighborhoods from militias and other sectarian killers.

A Winnable War  —  The argument against the orthodox history of Vietnam.  —  Triumph Forsaken  —  The Vietnam War, 1954-1965  —  by Mark Moyar  —  Cambridge, 542 pp., $32  —  In the late summer of 1963, President John Kennedy dispatched two observers to South Vietnam.

Al-Qaeda, Islamic Courts gather the new Somali Jihad  —  Zawahiri, Islamist Courts lay the groundwork for the insurgency  —  While the Islamic Courts repeatedly denied any connection to al-Qaeda, the evidence to the contrary is overwhelming.  Hassan Dahir Aweys, the 'spiritual leader' …

Behind Negroponte's Move  —  The Director of National Intelligence resigns to take a job as Condi Rice's deputy.  Is it a loss for intelligence or a gain at State?  —  Will it create more problems than it solves?  That's the question Washington is pondering in the wake of a personnel whipsaw at the top of the Bush Administration.

Bush Facing Deep Divide Over More Troops for Iraq  —  The new Democratic leaders of the Senate and the House warned President Bush on Friday against sending additional troops to Iraq, setting the stage for what could become a major confrontation over a new war strategy.

Images of Hanging Make Hussein a Martyr to Many  —  In the week since Saddam Hussein was hanged in an execution steeped in sectarian overtones, his public image in the Arab world, formerly that of a convicted dictator, has undergone a resurgence of admiration and awe.

A New Commander, in Step With the White House on Iraq  —  The selection of Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus to serve as the senior American commander in Iraq signals an important turn in United States strategy.  —  As a supporter of increased forces in Iraq, General Petraeus is expected …

CNN ANCHOR: "IT MIGHT NOT BE BAD" IF I HURRICANE WERE TO "CLEAN THE STREETS OUT" IN NYC...  BECK: OK.  Yesterday and when I heard the final — the final words of the hurricane chief, and he said, you know, this is coming, I thought exactly of the words that I read about, starting I think in the 1950s …