Paterson Picks Gillibrand for Senate  —  ALBANY — Gov. David A. Paterson has selected Representative Kirsten Gillibrand, a 42-year-old congresswoman from upstate who is known for bold political moves and centrist policy positions, to fill the United States Senate seat vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton …

Obama flashes irritation in press room  —  President Obama made a surprise visit to the White House press corps Thursday night, but got agitated when he was faced with a substantive question.  —  Asked how he could reconcile a strict ban on lobbyists in his administration …

Freed by U.S., Saudi Becomes a Qaeda Chief  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon — The emergence of a former Guantánamo Bay detainee as the deputy leader of Al Qaeda's Yemeni branch has underscored the potential complications in carrying out the executive order President Obama signed Thursday that the detention center be shut down within a year.

Bush's ‘War’ On Terror Comes to a Sudden End  —  President Obama yesterday eliminated the most controversial tools employed by his predecessor against terrorism suspects.  With the stroke of his pen, he effectively declared an end to the “war on terror,” as President George W. Bush had defined it …

The 25 Most Influential Liberals In The U.S. Media  —  Edited by Tunku Varadarajan, Elisabeth Eaves and Hana R. Alberts, 01.22.09, 04:02 PM EST  —  Listen for their voices during the Obama era.  —  Barack Obama's inauguration was the formal point at which the reigning ideology in Washington changed from “conservative” to “liberal.”

Stimulus Plan Meets More GOP Resistance  —  Obama to Reiterate Appeal for Bipartisanship  —  Just days after taking office vowing to end the political era of “petty grievances,” President Obama ran into mounting GOP opposition yesterday to an economic stimulus plan that he had hoped would receive broad bipartisan support.

The Frigid Fingers Were Live, but the Music Wasn't  —  It was not precisely lip-synching, but pretty close.  —  The somber, elegiac tones before President Obama's oath of office at the inauguration on Tuesday came from the instruments of Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and two colleagues.

Senate approves landmark equal pay legislation  —  WASHINGTON — The Senate approved landmark worker rights legislation on Thursday that will make it easier for those who think they've endured pay discrimination to seek legal help.  The vote was 61-36.  —  The House of Representatives approved …

Worm Infects Millions of Computers Worldwide  —  A new digital plague has hit the Internet, infecting millions of personal and business computers in what seems to be the first step of a multistage attack.  The world's leading computer security experts do not yet know who programmed the infection, or what the next stage will be.

Submission in the Netherlands  —  “The Freedom Party (PVV),” read yesterday's press release, “is shocked by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal's decision to prosecute Geert Wilders for his statements and opinions.  Geert Wilders considers this ruling an all-out assault on freedom of speech.”

Sarah Palin's book should give Katie Couric something to read  —  Looks like Alaska's Republican Gov. Sarah Palin is gonna give Katie Couric something else to read besides her TelePrompTer scripts.  —  The 44-year-old mother of five has reportedly retained high-powered Washington super …

Obama to Lift Family-Planning ‘Gag Rule’  —  Move Would Restore Funds to International Groups Involved With Abortion; Timing Shows Sensitivity to Foes of Roe v. Wade  —  WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will issue an order restoring U.S. funding for international family-planning groups involved with abortion.

Ill. gov tells AP that strain is like Pearl Harbor  —  CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois' embattled but defiant governor turned to the history books to describe the emotional strain on him and his family, comparing his arrest last month to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.

COULTER VS. COLMES & MCCLELLAN ON DR. PHIL (VIDEO)  —  Today on Dr. Phil, the subject was “President Obama - Hope Vs. Reality.”  Ann Coulter, Alan Colmes, and Scott McClellan were guests.  I was absolutely SHOCKED by the warm reception Ann got from Dr. Phil's audience, especially since they're in California.

First Stem-Cell Trial Is Approved  —  In a watershed moment for one of the most contentious areas of science and American politics, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the way for the first-ever human trial of a medical treatment derived from embryonic stem cells.

Already In Our Backyard  —  As an addendum to Patrick's post, the following are just a handful of other convicted terrorists currently held in Florence, Colorado: … In fact, Salameh (along with Mohammed Saleh and Victor Alvarez, convicted in a separate plot to bomb several targets in NYC) …