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.

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?

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.

National debt hits record $11 trillion  —  The eye-popping national debt surpassed $11 trillion Monday, the largest in U.S. history.  —  The new Treasury Department figures on the national debt were released as the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office is expected to project …

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

“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

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.

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 …

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.

McCain Refuses To Condemn Ingraham's Attacks On His Daughter  —  Last week, ThinkProgress reported that hate radio host Laura Ingraham responded to Meghan McCain's criticism of right-wingers like Ann Coulter by calling her “plus-sized.”  Meghan shot back, telling Ingraham, “stop talking about my body.”

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.

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.

Mistrial by iPhone: Juries' Web Research Upends Trials  —  Last week, a juror in a big federal drug trial in Florida admitted to the judge that he had been doing research on the case on the Internet, directly violating the judge's instructions and centuries of legal rules.

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.

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 …