Celebrity side dish: Ann Coulter under investigation  —  Iman wants the world to stand up to Somalian pirates.  The supermodel is pained that her homeland remains so lawless that kids there can't get AIDS drugs from Keep a Child Alive's “Mother Africa” campaign.

Saturday Night Live Lampoons Reid Pelosi On Stimulus Plan  —  SNL skewered Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on the stimulus plan via a satire that could reflect a growing perception that might not be helpful to the Democrats.

Obama: ‘Top man on the economy’  —  “The president's top man on the economy is the president,” says Larry Summers, one of the president's top men on the economy, director of the National Economic Council.  —  “These days, everybody thinks they're economists,” President Barack Obama lamented last week …

Official: Sebelius near top for health post  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius was near the top of President Barack Obama's list of candidates to head the Health and Human Services Department, a senior administration official said Saturday.

Senator Ensign Thinks States Can Cut Back Without Cutting Anything Back  —  The single most perverse thing about the Senate version of the stimulus package is that it made big reductions in federal aid to the states.  In economic terms, this was just about the least-controversial idea you could put in a stimulus package.

Obama puts brake on Afghan surge  —  PRESIDENT Barack Obama has demanded that American defence chiefs review their strategy in Afghanistan before going ahead with a troop surge.  —  There is concern among senior Democrats that the military is preparing to send up to 30,000 extra troops without a coherent plan or exit strategy.

Another Right-Wing Conspiracy in Washington?  —  If you're looking for a break from those conservative voices that dominate talk radio, take time out today to listen to local station OBAMA 1260 AM.  You'll hear the progressive voices of Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz, Lionel — or …

FLY ON THE WAL  —  UNDERCOVER AT WAL-MART, THE HEARTLAND SUPERSTORE THAT MAY SAVE THE ECONOMY  —  Some people, usually community activists, loath Wal-Mart.  Others, like the family of four struggling to make ends meet, are in love with the chain.  I, meanwhile, am in awe of it.

The Dissenter Who Changed the War  —  As the No. 2 Commander in Iraq, Raymond Odierno Challenged the Military Establishment, Pressing for More Troops and a Long-Term Strategy to Guide Them  —  Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno was an unlikely dissident, with little in his past to suggest …

WILL FERRELL'S BUSH LEAGUE SHOW  —  HE'LL DO ANYTHING FOR A LAUGH — EVEN INSULT DEAD TROOPS  —  Is it too much to ask for Hollywood's leading comic actor not to use the deaths of our troops in combat for a giggle?  Stay classy, Will Ferrell.  —  In his new (almost) one-man Broadway comedy …

Hello?  GOPs?  Your favorite wedge issue is coming back.  —  Shouldn't Republicans be making more of a fuss about the provision in the stimulus bill—both House and Senate versions, apparently—that spends $2-3 billion to the states for “temporary welfare payments”?

Divisions Over the Competing Stimulus Bills  —  WASHINGTON — The Senate agreement on a roughly $827 billion economic stimulus bill sets up tough negotiations with the House, primarily over tens of billions of dollars in aid to states and local governments, tax provisions, and education, health and renewable energy programs.

Leader of Afghanistan Finds Himself Hero No More  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — A foretaste of what would be in store for President Hamid Karzai after the election of a new American administration came last February, when Joseph R. Biden Jr., then a senator, sat down to a formal dinner at the palace during a visit here.