Did yesterday's hostage crisis teach us anything about Hillary Clinton?  —  You might think we got a chance to see how she deals with a crisis, but that's not really so.  She had no executive authority in the matter.  The local police had to handle the situation.

SHAG FUND — IT'S ON US!  —  Yesterday, every reporter who wanted a copy, was allowed to go down to City Hall and pick up copies of the city financial records that were the basis of the original Shag Fund report in the Politico.com.  That's how we found out about the weird $400,000 prepayment …

Chavez threatens to cut oil if U.S. questions vote  —  CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) — President Hugo Chavez on Friday wrapped up his campaign to push through broad constitutional changes with a broadside attack against adversaries at home and abroad — including a threat to cut off oil exports to the United States.

Signing statement is president's first since 2006  —  Had used tactic often before power shift in Congress  —  WASHINGTON - President Bush this month issued his first signing statement since the Democratic takeover of Congress, reserving the right to bypass 11 provisions in a military appropriations bill under his executive powers.

Feminist Pitch for a Democrat Named Obama  —  In the intensifying battle for the votes of Democratic women, Senator Barack Obama's campaign is trying to turn years of feminist thinking on its head and argue that the best candidate for women may, in fact, be a man.

Gospel Truth  —  AMID much publicity last year, the National Geographic Society announced that a lost 3rd-century religious text had been found, the Gospel of Judas Iscariot.  The shocker: Judas didn't betray Jesus.  Instead, Jesus asked Judas, his most trusted and beloved disciple, to hand him over to be killed.

Tom Tancredo Hired Illegal Laborers to Renovate His McMansion  —  Anti-immigration zealot and GOP presidential candidate Tom Tancredo hired what he often refers to as "criminal aliens" to renovate his Colorado house.  —  Share and save this post:  —  Also in Top Stories  —  George Monbiot, Comment Is Free

Va. GOP Abandons Loyalty Pledge  —  Virginia Republican leaders decided yesterday to scrap plans to require voters to sign a loyalty pledge before they cast their ballots in the Feb. 12 presidential primary.  —  The decision by the 86-member Virginia Republican State Central Committee …

Good Morning  —  Welcome to the new Firedoglake.  As you can see, we've been busy making a few changes.  —  The biggest change will be in the comment section, where we're going be implementing registration to keep the load on both our servers and our moderators from getting any heavier.