It's not the bonuses.  It's that AIG's counterparties are getting paid back in full.  —  Everybody is rushing to condemn AIG's bonuses, but this simple scandal is obscuring the real disgrace at the insurance giant: Why are AIG's counterparties getting paid back in full, to the tune of tens of billions of taxpayer dollars?

The dishonest “Blame Dodd” scheme from Treasury officials  —  (updated below - Update II)  —  There is a major push underway — engineered by Obama's Treasury officials, enabled by a mindless media, and amplified by the right-wing press — to blame Chris Dodd for the AIG bonus payments.

Obama's Jay Leno Tonight Show Gig Will Diminish His Presidency  —  By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog  —  When I was writing speeches for President Bush #41, we'd start working every Spring on the annual “joke” dinners—the Gridiron Club, the Alfalfa Club, and the White House Correspondents Dinner.

President's Budget Strategy Under Fire  —  Tactic May Break Obama's Bipartisan Pledge, GOP Says  —  Senior members of the Obama administration are pressing lawmakers to use a shortcut to drive the president's signature initiatives on health care and energy through Congress without Republican votes …

Begorra!  Irish PM trips over White House speech  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen was just a few paragraphs into an address at a St. Patrick's Day celebration at the White House when he realized something sounded way too familiar.

ACORN to Play Role in 2010 Census  —  The U.S. Census Bureau is working with several national organizations to help recruit 1.4 million workers to produce the country's 2010 census, including one with a history of voter fraud charges: ACORN.  —  FOXNews.com

Guns on a plane  —  Obama secretly ends program that let pilots carry guns  —  After the September 11 attacks, commercial airline pilots were allowed to carry guns if they completed a federal-safety program.  No longer would unarmed pilots be defenseless as remorseless hijackers seized control …

U.S. Weighs Taliban Strike Into Pakistan  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama and his national security advisers are considering expanding the American covert war in Pakistan far beyond the unruly tribal areas to strike at a different center of Taliban power in Baluchistan …

Limbaugh"s Favorable Rating: 19 Percent  —  Limbaugh's Favorable Rating: 19 Percent  —  Over the past few weeks, the White House has been casting right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh as the head of the Republican Party, and based on a new CBS News poll, it appears they may be on to something.

Female shoppers still elusive in Swat  —  MINGORA: It has been more than a month since the government and the Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) signed a peace deal in Swat but the shopkeepers at Cheena Market, once the busiest in Mingora city, are still waiting for female shoppers.

Minister won't confirm belief in evolution  —  Researchers aghast that key figure in funding controversy invokes religion in science discussion  —  Canada's science minister, the man at the centre of the controversy over federal funding cuts to researchers, won't say if he believes in evolution.

Canadians throw shoes to protest Bush  —  OTTAWA (AFP) — Three Canadians were arrested and others threw shoes in protest against George W. Bush on Tuesday when he gave his first post-presidential speech in western Canada's oil patch.  —  The footwear was tossed at an effigy …

Deference Denounced  —  The Gumby-like self-adulator also known as Glenn Greenwald has worked himself into a multiply updated state because some media members were taken aback by White House flak Gibbs' snide remark about Cheney ... “I guess Rush Limbaugh was busy.”  —  Hyperventilating highpoints:

Tauscher to State  —  Word is that Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), chair of the House Armed Services Committee's subcommittee on strategic forces and a staunch superdelegate for presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, is in line for a top post at the State Department …

AIG CEO to Testify Before Congress Today  —  Edward Liddy to Testify in Wake of Bailout, Bonus Outrage  —  ABC NEWS Business Unit  —  As outrage continues to swell around bailed-out insurance giant American International Group, the company's chief executive will take the hot seat today …

“Off With Those Pants”: Bill O'Reilly Seduces You in Clips From His Dirty Audiobook  —  Your Crap Archivist brings you the finest in forgotten and bewildering crap culled from basements, thrift stores, estate sales and flea markets.  I do this for one reason: Knowledge is power.  —  Those Who Trespass audiobook

Federal judge scolds prosecutor  —  Appeals Judge Richard Posner cites misconduct as conviction overturned  —  U.S. Appeals Judge Richard Posner is known for his provocative opinions, but his harsh criticism of a Chicago federal prosecutor surprises even close court observers.

Iran shift  —  The Obama administration is finalising its policy for engaging Iran.  —  The approach is likely to involve a combination of small steps to initiate contact between the two countries and may include an overture in the form of a letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei …

Bush refuses to criticize Obama in Canada  —  CALGARY, Alberta (AP) - Former President George W. Bush says he won't criticize President Barack Obama because Obama “deserves my silence,” and says he plans to write a book about the 12 toughest decisions he made in office.

North Korea launches perfect Italian pizza  —  North Korea has opened its first pizzeria after a decade of clandestine international research.  —  It has taken almost 10 years of work, but North Korea has acquired the technology to launch a project very dear to its leader's heart - the nation's first “authentic” Italian pizzeria.