Obama to Open Offshore Areas to Oil Drilling for First Time  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is proposing to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time, officials said Tuesday.

Hutchison Will Serve Out Term  —  Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) will announce today she has decided to serve out the remainder of her term, according to a source familiar with Hutchison's plans.  —  The move is a reversal of a pledge Hutchison made to step down as she challenged Gov. Rick Perry (R) earlier this year.

Santorum “Disgusted” With Questionable RNC Expenditures  —  Former United States Senator Rick Santorum was in Council Bluffs, Iowa today at a noon luncheon hosted by the Pottawattamie Republican Party.  During the question and answer portion of the event, Santorum was asked to comment …

LL Cool J upset with Palin, Fox  —  LL Cool J is taking aim at Fox and Sarah Palin.  —  (CNN) - Rapper LL Cool J appears to be upset with Sarah Palin and Fox news for using footage of a 2008 interview in its promotion for the former Alaska governor's upcoming television special.

One Man's Quest to Catalog Presidential Minutiae  —  Radio Reporter Keeps Tabs on Vacations, Dinners, Phrases; a 60,000-Word Summit  —  WASHINGTON—When President Barack Obama told a gathering of the nation's governors last month that he was “not going to rest” until each state's economy improves, Mark Knoller was counting.

EXCLUSIVE: Iran Nuclear Scientist Defects to U.S. In CIA ‘Intelligence Coup’  —  Shahram Amiri Disappeared Last June in Saudi Arabia, Reportedly Now Resettled in the United States  —  An award-winning Iranian nuclear scientist, who disappeared last year under mysterious circumstances …

Evan Coyne Maloney remembers  —  Evan Coyne Maloney is the documentary filmmaker and proprietor of Brain Terminal.  During the Bush administration, Evan was out in the field with his camera observing protests and interviewing protesters.  He is therefore in a good position to recall the signs …

Barack The Good  —  The big government liberalism that Mr. Obama uses to make himself history-making also alienates him in the center-right America of today.  —  It has to be acknowledged that, in his battle for health-care reform, President Obama has shown real presidential mettle.

New Obama push meets Hill resistance  —  The president's push to turn health care reform into a catalyst for the rest of his agenda is getting mixed early reactions on Capitol Hill, where Democratic leaders' desire to take advantage of healthy majorities before the November elections must contend with lawmakers' survival instincts.

Charles Johnson “Fairly Sure” the Tennesee State Flag is a Neo-Nazi Logo...  And I'm fairly sure the Husky Ponytailed Blogger's a washed-up has-been...  The link he provides goes to this picture:  —  Umm yeah, that's the Tennesee state flag...  FAIL.

Leftism, the Religion  —  Many Americans find it difficult to understand why Jews on the left, including many who would call themselves “liberal” rather than “left,"continued to enthusiastically support President Obama after the revelations about the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish views …

Jaime Escalante dies at 79; math teacher who challenged East L.A. students to ‘Stand and Deliver’  —  He became America's most famous teacher after a 1988 movie portrayed his success at mentoring working-class pupils at Garfield High to pass a rigorous national calculus exam.  He died of cancer.

Private Sector Sheds Jobs  —  Private-sector jobs in the U.S. dropped by 23,000 this month.  Above, unemployed Americans line up as they wait to gain entry to meet employers at the Los Angeles Career Fair in March.  —  Private-sector jobs in the U.S. dropped by 23,000 this month …

Holding back job growth?  Workers' awesome output  —  When workers become more efficient, it's normally a good thing.  But lately, it has acted as a powerful brake on job creation.  And the question of whether the recent surge in productivity has run its course is the key to whether job growth is finally poised to take off.

With Hirings, Yahoo Steps Up Its News Coverage  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo has recruited nearly a dozen journalists from traditional and online media outlets and opened a bureau in Washington to push into original content and increase the popularity of its online news site.

Sec. Salazar: Cap-and-trade ‘is not in the lexicon anymore’  —  “Cap-and-trade” isn't part of the Obama administration's lexicon anymore when it comes to addressing climate change, a top cabinet secretary said Wednesday.  —  Interior Secretary Ken Salazar sent signals that the White House believes …

Countdown Tops CNN Again, But Rates Better Without Olbermann  —  MSNBC continues its dominance of CNN during prime time as the 2nd place cable news outlet, while CNN remains ahead during dayside hours (with Fox News dominating in 1st place in both categories).