Burris open to ethics probes, will cooperate with perjury review  —  U.S. Sen. Roland Burris said today he is open to a Senate ethics investigation into how he got the Senate seat from ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich and that he has reached out to a Sangamon County prosecutor who is reviewing Burris' sworn testimony before Illinois lawmakers.

Late Change in Course Hobbled Rollout of Geithner's Bank Plan  —  Just days before Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner was scheduled to lay out his much-anticipated plan to deal with the toxic assets imperiling the financial system, he and his team made a sudden about-face.

“Yes, we care!”  Porkulus protesters holler back  —  Hundreds of taxpayers took time out of their busy day to protest President Obama's “stimulus” bill-signing in Denver today.  Jim Pfaff of Colorado Americans for Prosperity, Jon Caldara and the Independence Institute, former Rep. Tom Tancredo …

Politico's David Rogers Catches Republicans Lying About High-Speed Rail, Won't Call Them Liars  —  David Rogers has a piece in Politico that offers a nice summary of the recovery plan's actual high-speed rail provisions and the direct role of the White House in securing them:

Congress' Approval Rating Jumps to 31%  —  More positive ratings from Democrats largely responsible for increase  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup's latest congressional job approval rating, from a Feb. 9-12 poll, shows a sharp 12 percentage-point increase from last month, rising from 19% to 31%.

Obama to Send 17,000 More Troops to Afghanistan  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama will send an additional 17,000 American troops to Afghanistan this spring and summer in the first major military move of his presidency, White House officials said on Tuesday.  —  The increase would come on top …

SEC Charges R. Allen Stanford, Stanford International Bank for Multi-Billion Dollar Investment Scheme  —  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  —  2009-26  —  Washington, D.C., Feb. 17, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Robert Allen Stanford and three of his companies …

Signing Stimulus, Obama Doesn't Rule Out More  —  DENVER — President Obama has not ruled out a second stimulus package, his press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said on Tuesday, just before Mr. Obama signed his $787 billion recovery package into law with a statement that it would “set our economy on a firmer foundation.”

Bristol Palin: Abstinence for teens ‘not realistic’  —  (CNN) — In her first interview since giving birth, the teenage daughter of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said having a child is not “glamorous,” and that telling young people to be abstinent is “not realistic at all.”  —  “It's just, like, I'm not living for myself anymore.

THIS BIKE IS NOT A PIPE BOMB.  —  Jeffrey Goldberg wasn't trying hard enough.  Despite stuffing Hezbollah flags into his carry-ons and waving fake boarding passes under the noses of security employees, Goldberg was unable to get TSA sufficiently riled up.  —  His efforts were wasted.

Air Force chief to ask Gates for more F-22s  —  The Air Force chief of staff is going to make his case with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in the coming weeks for more F-22 Raptor jets.  —  Gen. Norton Schwartz said that the Air Force is looking to buy more than the 183 radar-evading F-22s now ordered …

McCain's Vote Should Trouble Obama  —  By the president's own standard of bipartisanship, he has failed.  —  “John McCain Was Right.”  —  That's one headline we ought to see when President Barack Obama puts his name to the stimulus bill in Denver later today.  But we won't.

GM to End Brands, Cut 47,000 More Jobs  —  Saturn, Hummer Could Be History by 2011 as GM Plans to Slash Dealers; Chrysler Mentions Bankruptcy Option for First Time  —  General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC on Tuesday told the federal government they need at least $21.6 billion more combined …

Stop the Democratic Suicide  —  Blogs and Stories  —  If the Obama administration doesn't start to deal with the populist wave headed for Washington, Republicans will tap a reservoir of resentment that could destroy his presidency.  —  First they came for the bankers.  Then they came for the CEOs.

Exclusive: Pat Robertson Says Obama ‘Showing Partisanship,’ Denounces Rush Limbaugh's ‘I Hope He Fails’ Remark  —  Interviewing Christian Broadcasting Network founder Pat Robertson recently for a forthcoming piece on the possibility of a Fairness Doctrine revival, I threw in a couple questions about President Obama.

A Foreign Policy of Obsequiousness  —  Yesterday in Geneva, President Obama unveiled the new look of America's foreign policy — obsequiousness.  It was Day One for his emissaries to the U.N. planning committee of the Durban II conference.  This is the racist “anti-racism” bash to be held in Geneva in April.

Politicking, by David Axelrod  —  The indispensable Hyde Park Herald just put large portions of its archive online, offering access to some rather wonky Obama columns from the 1990s and early 2000s, and — better reading — to David Axelrod's reporting and columns from his days as a young reporter.

Ex-Border Patrol agents released early from prison  —  (CNN) — Two former U.S. Border Patrol agents — whose cases became flashpoints in the controversy over border security — were released early from prison Tuesday, one of their attorneys and a congressman said.

Resisting Home Evictions Becomes a Group Effort  —  As resistance to foreclosure evictions grows among homeowners, community leaders and some law enforcement officials, a broad civil disobedience campaign is starting in New York and other cities to support families who refuse orders to vacate their homes.

A new jihad?  —  Turkey witnesses some of the most passionate demonstrations in support of Gaza  —  At a weekend meeting in Istanbul, 200 religious scholars and clerics met with senior Hamas officials to plot a new jihad centred on Gaza.  —  The BBC's Bill Law was the only Western journalist at the meeting.

If You Got Money, It's Time to Spend Some  —  Edward L. Glaeser is an economics professor at Harvard.  —  In the last eight years, Americans have spent an extraordinary amount of money and borrowed a lot to make that spending possible.  Total outstanding consumer credit was $1.7 trillion in 2000; the current figure is $2.6 trillion.

Good News for Fans of the Status Quo  —  President Obama, with his constant chatter about change and shaking things up and new ways of doing things, had rattled some traditionalists in this area — especially those lacking a proper level of cynicism.  —  But a review of the early demographic data …

Geert Wilders Is a Test for Western Civilization  —  If Rushdie should be defended, why not the Dutch pol?  —  Twenty years ago, Andres Serrano put a plastic crucifix in a glass of urine, photographed it and called it art.  Conservatives in particular weren't pleased: not with Mr. Serrano …