Borders Are Tightened as Flu Cases Rise  —  Countries around the world began tightening their border and immigration controls Tuesday as the number of confirmed cases of swine flu continued to rise.  —  The number of deaths believed attributable to swine flu climbed to as many as 152 on Tuesday …

Cheney for President  —  Watching Dick Cheney defend the Bush administration's interrogation policies, it's been hard to escape the impression that both the Republican Party and the country would be better off today if Cheney, rather than John McCain, had been a candidate for president in 2008.

The Politics of Liberal Amnesia  —  Nancy Pelosi is “pushing back” against charges that she was aware of — and acquiesced in — the CIA's harsh interrogations of terrorist detainees nearly from the moment the practice began, reports the Politico Web site.  Maybe she's suffering from amnesia.

PLANE DUMB  —  The Federal Aviation Administration seems to see the public as Enemy No. 1.  Why else, after all, would it re peatedly hide information about potentially dangerous situations — as well as those that appear to be, but actually aren't?  —  Yesterday, for example, the FAA …

Pianist stops show with anti-US rant  —  • ‘Get your hands off my country’ audience told  —  • Polish player protests over missile defence shield  —  Krystian Zimerman, the great Polish concert pianist, is usually a man of few words.  He doesn't, as a rule, talk to the audience during performances.

Fed Pushes Citi, BofA to Increase Capital  —  Regulators have told Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. that the banks may need to raise more capital based on early results of the government's so-called stress tests of lenders, according to people familiar with the situation.

How libertarian dogma led the Fed astray  —  The Federal Reserve has been hobbled by at least two major shortcomings that were primarily responsible for the current and several previous credit crises.  Its failure to spot the importance of changing financial markets and its commitment …

Chrysler latest: Union eyes majority ownership  —  STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. — The United Auto Workers union will own 55% of a restructured Chrysler LLC and its retiree health care trust will get a seat on the board if union members vote to approve contract concessions this week.

Deal pushes budget toward 100th-day goal  —  House and Senate Democrats reached a budget deal on Monday night that will allow both chambers to vote on budget resolutions this week.  —  Budget negotiators, after hours of negotiations on Monday, put finishing touches on the resolution …

Why Michelle Obama inspires women around globe  —  (CNN) — Heather Ferreira works in the slums of Mumbai, India, where she has watched thousands of women live under a “curse.”  —  The women she meets in the squalid streets where “Slumdog Millionaire” was filmed are often treated with contempt, she says.

In Memoriam: John Gideon, 1947 - 2009  —  “I will choose to celebrate his life.”  — Ellen Theisen, John Gideon's co-director at VotersUnite.org on his passing.  —  It was a very lonely time for advocates of democracy in the U.S. when John Gideon posted his first guest blog here in the dark days …

Key Posts Remain Vacant as Untested Pandemic Response Plan Implemented  —  As they confront the growing swine flu crisis, President Obama's administration is attempting to implement a never-before-tested pandemic response plan while dozens of key public health and emergency response jobs in the administration remain vacant.

Doing the homework  —  Sorry for the lax updates, I've been sick and chugging Wall-flu, the Walgreens generic Theraflu, like mad the past several days.  I missed this from Matthew Yglesias: … The homework they are talking about about is the soft-skills part of mortgage applications …

How '07 ABC Interview Tilted a Torture Debate  —  In late 2007, there was the first crack of daylight into the government's use of waterboarding during interrogations of Al Qaeda detainees.  On Dec. 10, John Kiriakou, a former C.I.A. officer who had participated in the capture …

Britain is going to need far more people like Sir Michael Caine  —  The son of a charlady from Rotherhithe is an example of social mobility at its best - but try telling that to Labour, says Iain Martin.  —  His name, as they say, is Michael Caine.  And he's not a happy bunny.

Flu Or No Flu, Health Sec's Nomination Will Still Require 60 Votes, GOP Says  —  So Kathleen Sebelius will get her confirmation vote as Health and Human Services secretary tomorrow in the Senate — but even with the flu outbreak, her confirmation will still have to clear a big hurdle, requiring 60 votes.