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 …

FL-Senate: Jeb Bush Will Not Run  —  Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is expected to make a decision soon about whether he will run for the open Senate seat in Florida in 2010.  —  UPDATED, 3:48 p.m. ET: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will not run for the open Senate seat of Sen. Mel Martinez …

Feinstein Explains Her Reticence* About Panetta Nomination  —  Just talked with Dianne Feinstein outside the Senate chamber about her qualms with the Leon Panetta nomination.  The incoming Senate intelligence committee chairman said that both President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden called …

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 …

Reid calls on Coleman to concede  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said that while Democrats will not seek to seat Democrat Al Franken today, Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) should concede the election.  —  In his inaugural address to the 111th Congress, Reid referred …

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 …

End Times  —  VIRTUALLY ALL THE predictions about the death of old media have assumed a comfortingly long time frame for the end of print—the moment when, amid a panoply of flashing lights, press conferences, and elegiac reminiscences, the newspaper presses stop rolling and news goes entirely digital.

Panetta a ‘Brave’ Choice, Says Former CIA Agent  —  “Ishmael Jones” is a former deep-cover officer with the Central Intelligence Agency.  He is author of The Human Factor: Inside the CIA's Dysfunctional Intelligence Culture, published last year by Encounter Books.

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 Think Tank Industrial Complex  —  Steven Walt says: … It seems unlike a realist to cite domestic political dynamics as the cause of national security policy, but clearly this is correct.  And I would note the last point about the think tanks has implications that go beyond the budget.

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 …

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 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.