Palin, Visible and Vocal, Is Positioned for Variety of Roles  —  WASHINGTON — Without leaving home, Sarah Palin will be able to reach much of her political base, courtesy of a soon-to-be-built television studio in her living room paid for by her newest media patron, Fox News.

EMPTY CHAIRS.... Democrats were pretty aggressive yesterday in going after Sen. Richard Shelby (R), after the right-wing Alabama lawmaker put a blanket hold on 70 administration nominees.  For Shelby, he'll consider letting the Senate vote on the officials, just as soon as he gets some defense earmarks for his state.

Obama: 'She insisted she's going to be buried in an Obama t-shirt'  —  Yes, those are the words of the president, last night at the Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Washington.  After listing his administration's accomplishments and vowing that “our most urgent task is job creation …

Gigi Jordan feeds son, 8, fatal dose of pills, leaves strange 2-page note in botched murder-suicide  —  A multimillionaire mom fed her 8-year-old son a fatal dose of pills, then spent the night with his body inside a ritzy midtown hotel before a failed suicide try, police said.

Climate scepticism ‘on the rise’  —  The number of British people who are sceptical about climate change is rising, a poll for BBC News suggests.  —  The Populus poll of 1,001 adults found 25% did not think global warming was happening, a rise of 8% since a similar poll was conducted in November.

Source: Cohen Considering Dropping Out  —  U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin Joins Call For Lt. Gov. Nominee To Step Aside  —  CHICAGO (CBS) ― Under increasing pressure to step down, Democratic lieutenant governor nominee Scott Lee Cohen is reportedly considering stepping aside.

Saving Money vs Spending Less Money  —  When talking about the household budget, I think it's commonplace to draw a distinction between a claim like “you could save money by bringing Diet Coke from the store into the office rather than using the soda machine” and a claim like …

No Holds Barred  —  Washington was immobilized by snow on Friday.  This is highly unusual.  Normally, Washington is immobilized by senators.  —  This time storm warnings came just as the Senate had hit a point of uncommon productivity.  In a single week, it managed to not only confirm two U.S. marshals …

Seeking a Safer Way to Securitization  —  Can the world be made safe for the return of securitizations?  —  That is a question of great importance to those like John C. Dugan, the comptroller of the currency, who say they believe that the banking system on its own is unlikely to have the ability …

'I'm Not Saying Your Mother's a Whore': How Fox News Censored Jon Stewart's Showdown with Bill O'Reilly  —  Fox News has generously placed the full, unedited conversation between Bill O'Reilly and Jon Stewart online, so we can see precisely how unfairly and deviously Fox edited the interview in order to weaken Stewart's case: A lot!

The lynch-mob mentality  —  If I had the power to have one statement of fact be universally recognized in our political discussions, it would be this one: … That proposition should be intrinsically understood by any American who completed sixth grade civics and was thus taught …

Retraction Requests: Charles Johnson, Little Green Footballs  —  Just a couple of hours ago, Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs issued an update to his post “James O'Keefe's Race Problems” of February 3rd, which had spread the lie that James O'Keefe attended a “white nationalist convention” …

Goldman Chief's Bonus Seen by Some as Show of Restraint  —  Once again, a bonus at Goldman Sachs has all of Wall Street talking — only this time, over how small it is.  —  After weeks of intense speculation, Goldman Sachs disclosed late Friday that its chief executive, Lloyd C. Blankfein …

The London Real Estate Bubble Is Back—and It's Scary  —  LONDON—The one-bedroom co-op apartment is only a short walk from Hyde Park, and it boasts high ceilings and a purely decorative balcony.  —  Yours for a mere $1.5 million.  It seems quite a high price, especially for a property whose ground lease …

Obama urges small-business boosts  —  President Barack Obama on Saturday urged Congress to quickly pass a series of new proposals to boost small businesses.  —  “Do not oppose good ideas just because it's good politics to do so,” Obama said in the weekly radio address.