An Open Dish Challenge To Palin  —  Well, she has now thrown down a gauntlet that the Dish will be very eager to take up in the next few days.  —  Yesterday the AP ran a story describing some of the contents of the book, and arguing that many assertions in it are, like so much of what Palin has said, empirically untrue.

On President Obama's Bow to the Japanese Emperor, An Academic Friend Writes That Both the Left and the Right Are Wrong  —  An old friend — an academic with expertise about the Japanese Empire, and in general a supporter of President Obama — sends me the following note …

Cleric says he was confidant to Hasan  —  In Yemen, al-Aulaqi tells of e-mail exchanges, says he did not instigate rampage  —  SANAA, YEMEN — In his first interview with a journalist since the Fort Hood rampage, Yemeni American cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi said that he neither ordered nor pressured …

U.S. Asks More From Pakistan in Terror War  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is stepping up pressure on Pakistan to expand and reorient its fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, warning that failing to do so would undercut the new strategy and troop increase for Afghanistan …

World Out of Balance  —  International travel by world leaders is mainly about making symbolic gestures.  Nobody expects President Obama to come back from China with major new agreements, on economic policy or anything else.  —  But let's hope that when the cameras aren't rolling Mr. Obama …

We should worry that Tracey Emin Hugh Osmond and Michael Caine are fleeing the 50p tax rate  —  The 50p tax rate will be a disaster for the economy - taking us back to the dark days of the 1970s, says Boris Johnson.  —  Not everyone will miss her as much as I will.

Drug Makers Raise Prices in Face of Health Care Reform  —  Even as drug makers promise to support Washington's health care overhaul by shaving $8 billion a year off the nation's drug costs after the legislation takes effect, the industry has been raising its prices at the fastest rate in years.

Obama takes heat on Afghan timing  —  SHANGHAI, China - President Barack Obama made no effort to conceal his irritation when his press corps used the first question of his maiden Far East trip to ask what was taking him so long on Afghanistan.  —  Jennifer Loven of The Associated Press had asked …

Can Winfrey, Palin save each other?  —  Were there ever two women who needed each other more but whose political differences were so starkly different?  Can Sarah Palin help stanch Oprah Winfrey's slipping ratings?  Can Winfrey come to the rescue of Palin's tattered political reputation?

HA exclusive: ATR, AWF demand probe of SEIU's Stern for illegal lobbying  —  At 9 am ET today, Americans for Tax Reform and the Alliance for Worker Freedom will deliver a letter to both chambers of Congress and to US Attorney Channing Phillips in Washington DC, demanding a federal investigation of Andrew Stern, president of the SEIU.

Democrat pays her taxes so she can be candidate  —  ST. LOUIS — A day before she clinched the nomination to fill a vacancy in the Missouri House of Representatives on Saturday, St. Louis Democrat Hope Whitehead paid a visit to City Hall.  —  Not to mobilize supporters, but to pay hundreds of dollars in outstanding taxes.

Re: Graham Crumbles for Nothing  —  When Lindsay Graham decided to support cap-and-trade — a position not even some moderate Democrats can stomach — I observed that this was not only bad policy but also bad politics.  And sure enough, moves like that and his support for now Supreme Court …