Obama Wants Journalist Gupta for Surgeon General  —  President-elect Barack Obama has offered the job of surgeon general to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the neurosurgeon and correspondent for CNN and CBS, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation.  —  Gupta has told administration officials …

Burris denied entry to Senate  —  (CNN) — Roland Burris was denied entry to the Senate chambers on Tuesday as he tried to claim the seat once held by President-elect Barack Obama.  —  Burris said the secretary of the Senate rejected his credentials, and therefore he would not be allowed access to the floor.

40 Palestinians killed in IDF strike on UN school  —  Israel Defense Forces tank fire killed up to 40 Palestinians at a United Nations school in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, medical sources at two hospitals said.  —  The attack brought the Palestinian death toll to nearly 600 in Israel's 11 …

Biden: Not consulting Senate on Panetta “a mistake”  —  Veep-elect Joe Biden, chatting with reporters after his swearing-in, sympathized with Sen. Dianne Feinstein's gripe that members of the intelligence committee weren't consulted on Leon Panetta's CIA appointment.  —  “I'm still a Senate man and I always think this way.

Stimulus arithmetic (wonkish but important)  —  Bit by bit we're getting information on the Obama stimulus plan, enough to start making back-of-the-envelope estimates of impact.  The bottom line is this: we're probably looking at a plan that will shave less than 2 percentage points off …

Levi Johnston quits oil field job  —  PUBLIC SCRUTINY: Rules say he needs diploma for apprenticeship.  —  wloy@adn.com  —  Levi Johnston, the boyfriend of Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol, has quit his North Slope oil field job over questions about his eligibility to work …

A Jewish Gaza?  —  Having praised the new Foreign Policy site, let me welcome them to the blogosphere by taking exception to this hypothetical from new-minted FP blogger Stephen Walt, which has been mentioned favorably by Yglesias and Klein as an example of the sort of daring thought that mainstream op-ed pages fail to publish:

The Obama stimulus package should be spent on transformative investments, not bridges and buildings.  —  The incoming Obama administration and Congress are planning a huge fiscal stimulus package.  They hope that such a stimulus will catalyze an economic turnaround and be a cornerstone of a “New New Deal.”

The World's Pornographic Interest in Jewish Moral Failure  —  Okay, yesterday I was depressed.  Today, I'm just pissed off.  It's absolutely astonishing to me how interested the world is in Israel's failings.  This is the source of a bitter but hilarious observation I once heard a Kurdish leader make …

Skier Suffers Exposure  —  Man left dangling upside down, pantsless after Vail lift mishap  —  In a bizarre incident that will surely lead to litigation (or an out-of-court settlement), a skier at Colorado's ritzy Vail resort was left dangling upside down and pantsless from a chairlift last Friday morning.

Coulter booked for ‘Today’ show  —  Conservative author Ann Coulter will appear on Wednesday's “Today” show, according to an NBC spokesperson.  —  Coulter has been talking up being bumped by NBC for the past two days, both on other networks and the radio.  A controversy erupted …

Obama to ride in style in GM limo  —  Armored '09 Cadillac to carry new president in inaugural parade.  —  WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama is getting a new ride to go with his new address on Jan. 20.  —  General Motors Corp. recently delivered to the U.S. Secret Service a brand …

The Man in the Middle  —  Buzzzzzz.  THE CELL PHONE rings again and Chuck Schumer flips it open.  “I figured it out,” he says without preamble.  “George Washington.  If George Washington got indicted, you wouldn't pounce on the guy—you'd say he served honorably and now it's time for Alaskans to move on.”

THE FIRST TEN SENATE BILLS.  —  A Democratic aide on the hill passes along the first ten bills that Majority Leader Harry Reid will put in the hopper this evening to kick off the new session of Congress, as sent by leadership to various Senate Legislative Directors.

An Endgame for Israel  —  Maybe this column would get a better reception if it were titled, “No Endgame for Israel.”  Because the quantity of commentary claiming that Israel cannot possibly achieve any kind of successful outcome in Gaza is already approaching presurge levels of Iraq defeatism.

Obama deplores civilian deaths in Gaza, Israel  —  Breaking his silence on the conflict in Gaza, the president-elect deplored the civilian casualties, which have been overwhelmingly on the Palestinian side, after a meeting with fiscal and economic advisors today.

240,000 dollars awarded to man forced to cover Arab T-shirt  —  NEW YORK (AFP) - An airline passenger forced to cover his T-shirt because it displayed Arabic script has been awarded 240,000 dollars in compensation, campaigners said Monday.  —  Raed Jarrar received the pay out on Friday …

Pelosi's power move leaves House Republicans fuming  —  House Democrats are poised to approve new rules that will significantly increase their authority while taking the bullets out of the few legislative weapons Republicans have in the lower chamber.  —  Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) …

Memo: don't rely on the Brits during a battle  —  Never mind our colonial past.  Confidence in the Armed Forces is the biggest threat to the special relationship  —  Tony Blair used to say that the British voters wanted him to have a Love Actually moment - and tell the President …