Brilliant: ‘Vagina Monologues’ Creator Tells Palin to Look at ‘Earthquakes and Tsunamis’ for Global Warming Proof  —  No matter what former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin does, she's not going to win any friends in the mainstream modern feminism activist movement in the United States.  But that might not be a bad thing.

In poll, Republicans gaining political ground on Obama  —  Republicans have significantly narrowed the gap with Democrats on who is trusted to deal with the country's problems and have sharply reduced several of President Obama's main political advantages, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Obama Doesn't ‘Begrudge’ Bonuses for ‘Savvy’ Blankfein, Dimon  —  Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama said he doesn't “begrudge” the $17 million bonus awarded to JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon or the $9 million issued to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO Lloyd Blankfein …

Obama Says Bipartisanship, But What He Wants Is GOP Surrender  —  Posted by Mark Knoller Unannounced, President Obama took to the lectern in the White House briefing room today to give a personal readout of his meeting earlier with congressional leaders of both parties.

New York Senate Expels Monserrate Over Assault  —  ALBANY — The State Senate on Tuesday expelled a senator convicted of domestic assault, the first time in nearly a century that the Legislature has forced a member from office.  —  The Senate voted 53-to-8 to immediately oust the senator …

In Albany, a Rumor of a Rumor Catches Fire  —  Albany — long a place of scandal, the rumor of scandal and the echoing talk about the rumor of scandal — has had a week a bit unlike any other.  Newspapers, blogs, reputable outfits and fringe gossip sites have worked themselves into a frenzy …

New Wind Farms in the U.S. Have Not Led to Jobs  —  Millions Have Been Invested in Wind Farms, but That Hasn't Brought Jobs  —  Despite all the talk of green jobs, the overwhelming majority of stimulus money spent on wind power has gone to foreign companies, according to a new report …

Anti-Tea Party Web Site Part of Scheme to Funnel Funds  —  A new Web site targeting the tea parties is a part of a complex network of money flowing from the mountainous coffers of the country's biggest labor unions and trickling slowly into political slush funds for Democratic activists.

Exposed: Naked Body Scanner Images Of Film Star Printed, Circulated By Airport Staff  —  Authorities' claim that virtual strip search pictures immediately destroyed proven fraudulent - use of devices needs to be halted now  —  Claims on behalf of authorities that naked body scanner images …

Revised Baseline Scenario: February 9, 2010  —  Caution: this is a long post (about 3,000 words).  The main points are in the first few hundred words and the remainder is supportive detail.  This material was the basis of testimony to the Senate Budget Committee today by Simon Johnson.

Pam Geller tries to tell Ron Reagan Jr. she knows better what his father would think of Palin  —  If you ever needed evidence that right-wingers have no boundaries — in terms logic, ethics, or basic decency — that they will not trample all over in the defense of conservative “values” …

Heart of Redness  —  [Ungawa!  The Tea Party natives are restless, sparking alarm among the civilized panjandrums of the coastal media Raj.  Who are these mysterious Fly-Over savages?  What do they want?  Conjectures abound, but only a few brave souls have dared strap on the pith helmet and safari into the belly of the beast.

Sen. Jim DeMint twitters: D.C. snow will continue ‘until Al Gore cries uncle’  —  Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) on Tuesday used the D.C. snowstorm to make a political jab, saying that it provides evidence for global warming skeptics.  —  The conservative senator took to Twitter on Tuesday amid reports …

Binyam Mohamed case  —  The Foreign Secretary said the Government accepts the decision of the Court of Appeal and has published the seven paragraphs at issue in the case of Binyam Mohamed.  —  Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, said:  —  'The Government accepts the decision of the Court of Appeal that …

Target Toyota: Why the Recall Backlash Is Overblown  —  Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood testifies during the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (Photo by Scott J. Ferrell/Getty Images)  —  To judge by press accounts and statements

Reuters photographer says reborn after freed by U.S.  —  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military freed a Reuters photographer in Iraq on Wednesday, almost a year and a half after snatching him from his home in the middle of the night and holding him without charge.

Burma sentences Md. man to 3 years of hard labor  —  BANGKOK — A court in Burma has sentenced Nyi Nyi Aung, a Burmese-born U.S. citizen, to three years in prison for using forged identity documents and carrying undeclared foreign currency.  —  Nyi Nyi, 40, was arrested in September …

China PLA officers urge economic punch against U.S.  —  BEIJING (Reuters) - Senior Chinese military officers have proposed that their country boost defense spending, adjust PLA deployments, and possibly sell some U.S. bonds to punish Washington for its latest round of arms sales to Taiwan.

The Trucking Index of GDP  —  USA Today highlights a new measure of economic activity that is based on truckers' use of diesel fuel.  This is an interesting way to try to get an up-to-date measure of the production and sale of goods in the economy.  By contrast GDP numbers only come …