CBO issues correction: Health bill nixes deficit less than thought  —  The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) corrected its estimate of the Senate health bill's costs on Sunday, saying it would reduce deficits slightly less than they'd predicted.  —  In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid …

POOR CHESS PLAYERS.... If it seemed as if the vast majority of Senate Democrats were acting with a stronger-than-expected commitment to getting health care done this year, it wasn't an accident. … Now, I happen to like that sentiment quite a bit, but let's pause to appreciate who made it: Evan Bayh?

Why the Senate Should Vote Yes on Health Care  —  IF I were still a United States senator, I would not only vote yes on the current health care reform bill, I would do so with the sure knowledge that I was casting one of the most historic votes of my 36 years in the Senate.

Brittany Murphy Dies  —  Brittany Murphy died early this morning after she went into full cardiac arrest and could not be revived, multiple sources tell TMZ.  —  She was 32.  —  A 911 call was made at 8:00 AM from a home in Los Angeles that is listed as belonging to her husband …

Why I Still Believe in This Bill  —  Jacob S. Hacker is the Stanley B. Resor Professor of Political Science at Yale University.  An expert on the politics of U.S. health and social policy, he is author, coauthor, or editor of numerous books and articles, both scholarly and popular …

When Will White People Stop Making Movies Like “Avatar”?  —  Critics have called alien epic Avatar a version of Dances With Wolves because it's about a white guy going native and becoming a great leader.  But Avatar is just the latest scifi rehash of an old white guilt fantasy.  Spoilers...

Dreading our future  —  I am a baby boomer, which is to say my life has coincided with turbulent and awesome times.  From the Cold War to Vietnam, from Watergate to Monicagate, through the horrors of 9/11 and the stunning lifestyle advances, my generation's era has been historic and exciting.

Questions over business deals of UN climate change guru Dr Rajendra Pachauri  —  The head of the UN's climate change panel - Dr Rajendra Pachauri - is accused of making a fortune from his links with ‘carbon trading’ companies, Christopher Booker and Richard North write.

MARVEL AT THE ‘ARROGANCE’ AND ‘NAIVETE’.... CNN is telling me that Sarah Palin said something on Twitter. … Or, to translate into English, the former half-term governor believes it's “arrogant and naive” to think human activity is responsible for climate change, which she describes as “man overpowering nature.”

Ayatollah Montazeri, Iranian Cleric, Dies at 87  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon — Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the plain-spoken senior Shiite cleric who helped forge Iran's system of religious government and went on to become a fierce critic of its hard-line rulers, died Sunday morning at the age of 87.

A ‘STARTER HOME’.... There's a sizable chasm between the failed health care status quo and the progressive ideal.  This, at a minimum, contributes to the differences between progressive proponents of reform — the same proposal can be seen by the same ostensible allies as both an important step forward and a bitter disappointment.

Eyewitness Confirms: D.C. Cop Freaks Out Over Snowball Fight-Brandishes Gun  —  According to an eyewitness, a D.C. Police detective (pictured above w/ gun) went nuts after kids pelted his Hummer with snowballs at 14th and U Streets NW this afternoon.  The veteran detective got out of his car …