Across Mideast, Arabs hail shoe-hurling journalist  —  BAGHDAD — Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets Monday to demand the release of a reporter who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush, as Arabs across many parts of the Middle East hailed the journalist as a hero and praised …

The Real Story Behind the Rushed Blagojevich Bust: How the Feds Are Frustrated by Losing (Maybe) Half of Their Case  —  Cam Simpson reports on the Rod Blagojevich case in Chicago.  —  Conventional wisdom holds that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald ordered the FBI to arrest Rod Blagojevich …

Limits on Executive Pay May Prove Toothless  —  Loophole in Bailout Provision Leaves Enforcement in Doubt  —  Congress wanted to guarantee that the $700 billion financial bailout would limit the eye-popping pay of Wall Street executives, so lawmakers included a mechanism …

Two Sides of a Troubled Governor, Sinking Deeper  —  CHICAGO — Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich is a polished speaker who can win over elderly women at luncheons in southern Illinois with his earnest attention and eloquently recite historical anecdotes from the lives of the leaders he says he most admires …

Net neutrality and the benefits of caching  —  One of the first posts I wrote for this blog last summer tried to define what we at Google mean when we talk about the concept of net neutrality.  —  Broadband providers — the on-ramps to the Internet — should not be allowed to prioritize traffic based …

Paterson proposes ‘Obesity Tax’  —  ALBANY - A can of Coke could soon cost New Yorkers more than just calories.  —  Gov. Paterson, as part of a $121 billion budget to be unveiled Tuesday, will propose an “obesity tax” of about 15% on nondiet drinks.  —  This means a Diet Coke might sell for a $1 …

Obama to Inaugural Volunteers: No Mas (and No Tickets)  —  To give you an idea of just how jam-packed Washington will be on inauguration day, Barack Obama's inaugural committee is turning away scores of volunteers.  —  An email sent from the Presidential Inaugural Committee over the weekend …

Left and Right, Piling On  —  In 1953, the president of General Motors, Charles Wilson, was nominated by President Eisenhower to be secretary of defense.  During his confirmation hearings, Wilson was asked if he'd be able, as defense secretary, to make decisions contrary to the interests …

Gen. Shinseki's Silence  —  The announcement that retired Army chief of staff Eric Shinseki will be President-elect Barack Obama's nominee for secretary of veterans affairs has energized one of the most enduring myths of the Bush presidency.  Among the media coverage in recent days …

The (Really) Moderate Muslims of Kosovo  —  On February 17, 2008, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, becoming the newest country in the world—and one of the most unusual.  Most of its citizens are Muslim, an oddity in Europe; further, unlike most Muslim-majority nations …

David Shuster to Host MSNBC Political Program  —  MSNBC is replacing one David with another on its 6 p.m. program, “1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”  —  The cable news channel, owned by NBC Universal, is expected to announce Monday that David Shuster, a Washington correspondent …

Lake Co. sheriff switches parties  —  Flanked by some of the state's most prominent Republicans, Democratic Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran announced Monday he is joining the GOP.  —  “I am changing parties as a matter of conscience,” Curran said at a news conference at the Lake County GOP headquarters in Libertyville.

On the Hunt in Baghdad  —  BAGHDAD — “If your men conduct any raids,” I said to Captain Todd Looney at Combat Outpost Ford on the outskirts of Sadr City, Baghdad, “I want to go.”  —  “We might have something come up,” he said.  “If so, I'll get you out there.”

Charter Schools Make Gains On Tests  —  Headway by Poor Children Linked To Rigorous Methods, Ample Funds  —  Students in the District's charter schools have opened a solid academic lead over those in its traditional public schools, adding momentum to a movement that is recasting public education in the city.

Hoekstra to announce retirement  —  Less than a week after being reappointed as the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Pete Hoekstra (Mich.) will announce that he will not seek a tenth term in 2010, according to a source with knowledge of the decision.

Straw Man?  Historians say Obama is no Lincoln  —  In Barack Obama's appearance last month on CBS's “60 Minutes,” the conversation turned to the president-elect's long-time love of Lincoln.  —  “There is a wisdom there,” Obama told interviewer Steve Kroft, “and a humility about his approach to government …

Spousal Ties to Lobbying Test a Vow From Obama  —  WASHINGTON — Linda Hall Daschle is one of the most important aviation lobbyists in town.  Ms. Daschle is also the wife of Tom Daschle, whom President-elect Barack Obama has chosen to be the next secretary of health and human services.

Treasury Still Studying Auto Rescue  —  WASHINGTON - The U.S. Treasury Department said Monday it has made no decisions on how to engineer a rescue effort for U.S. auto makers,  —  Treasury spokesman Brookly McLaughlin told reporters that department officials, who are working closely …