Reporter jumps ropeline after signing  —  A reporter was escorted out of a White House event by Secret Service agents on Wednesday afternoon after he approached President Obama to seek an autograph.  —  At the end of an East Room signing ceremony for legislation funding …

The Action Americans Need  —  By now, it's clear to everyone that we have inherited an economic crisis as deep and dire as any since the days of the Great Depression.  Millions of jobs that Americans relied on just a year ago are gone; millions more of the nest eggs families worked so hard to build have vanished.

Losing Control  —  Obama needs to reassert command of the agenda in Washington  —  Barack Obama began making his comeback on Wednesday, apparently aware that he has all but lost control of the agenda in Washington at a time when he simply can't afford to do so.

General Zinni gets undiplomatic treatment from Obama team  —  When retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni told the Washington Times that he was offered the job of U.S. ambassador to Iraq before being passed over in favor of diplomat Christopher Hill, he did not say that one of the outrages …

Senate Adds Homebuyer Tax Credit to Stimulus Bill  —  WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday voted to expand the economic stimulus package with a tax credit for homebuyers of up to $15,000, a provision championed by Republicans as addressing a root cause of the recession.

Panetta Earned $700,000 in Fees  —  WASHINGTON — The White House's nominee for Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Leon Panetta, has earned more than $700,000 in speaking and consulting fees since the beginning of 2008, with some of the payments coming from troubled financial firms …

Uncovering Lost Path of the Most Wanted Nazi  —  CAIRO — Even in old age the imposingly tall, athletic German known to locals as Tarek Hussein Farid maintained the discipline to walk some 15 miles each day through the busy streets of Egypt's capital.  He walked to the world-renowned Al Azhar mosque here …

Deutsche Bank posts first loss since WWII, rejects state aid … Germany's biggest lender, Deutsche Bank, on Thursday posted its first annual loss since World War II after a terrible fourth quarter but said it would survive the global meltdown without state aid.

Bozell to ABC President: You Must Publicly Address Stephanopoulos' Apparent Conflict of Interest  —  Open Letter Demands Public Resolution to Daily Strategy Calls  —  Alexandria, VA - Media Research Center (MRC) President L. Brent Bozell, III has written a letter to ABC News President David Westin calling …

RFK Jr.: Hog farms bigger threat than Osama  —  WASHINGTON — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday said he thinks hog farmers are a greater threat to Americans than Osama bin Laden.  —  Mr. Kennedy, son of the the slain New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, is an environmental law attorney …

Trump: Obama ‘absolutely right’ on pay limits  —  (CNN) — Donald Trump, businessman and CEO of The Trump Organization, knows a little something about money.  —  Trump spoke with CNN's Larry King about whether there should be executive pay limits, if there should be a stimulus plan …

Chinese Learn Limits of Online Freedom as the Filter Tightens  —  BEIJING — It was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek alternative to the stultifying variety show beamed into hundreds of millions of living rooms on the eve of each Lunar New Year holiday.  But the program, called “Shanzhai,” …

HIS REAL CONSTITUENCY  —  A reader chimes in ...  The reader's point about the long view is well-taken.  Obama's mix of steel and patience are two of his key virtues.  —  But I have been surprised that he has not chosen yet to play more to, and get out among, his real constituency — particularly on this bill — the people.

Change we cannot and do not believe in  —  When Barack Obama was running for the Democratic nomination last year and then for the presidency in the fall, one of the most attractive things about his candidacy was his promise of change that we all could believe in.

AP alleges copyright infringement of Obama image … NEW YORK (AP) - On buttons, posters and Web sites, the image was everywhere during last year's presidential campaign: A pensive Barack Obama looking upward, as if to the future, splashed in a Warholesque red, white and blue and underlined with the caption HOPE.

Iran says US must accept nuclear programme  —  A senior adviser to Iran's president says dialogue with the US will succeed only if the Obama administration accepts Tehran's right to have a nuclear programme.  —  Mojtaba Samareh-Hashemi, right-hand man to Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad …

AN INSTAPUNDIT EXCLUSIVE: A report from Michael Yon.  —  It's Raining  —  By Michael Yon  —  05 February 2009  —  There had been a light, cold drizzle just before the Muslim taxi driver picked me up in Jerusalem.  It should be a 90-minute drive to Sderot, in southern Israel.

Many View New Attorney General as Chance to Right What They Consider Racial Wrongs  —  With First Black Attorney General Come Expectations That Justice System Can Change  —  For decades, the face of the criminal justice system in this country has been black and male: hundreds …

Obama Justice Nominee Used to Represent Playboy  —  David Ogden, President Obama's pick for deputy attorney general, used to represent Playboy — in one case paving the way for the blind to enjoy the magazine at the Library of Congress.  —  FOXNews.com  —  Senators might want to hold David …