Palin's Dollar, Zoellick's Gold  —  An unlikely pair elevate the monetary policy debate.  —  It would be hard to find two more unlikely intellectual comrades than Robert Zoellick, the World Bank technocrat, and Sarah Palin, the populist conservative politician.

Mystery Missile Launch Seen off Calif. Coast  —  Military Mum on Nature of “Big Missile” Rising Out of Pacific - a Possible Show of U.S. Military Might  —  (CBS) A mysterious missile launch off the southern California coast was caught by CBS affiliate KCBS's cameras Monday night …

Cantor, Republicans signal Obama tax proposal is dead in the water  —  The Obama administration's hopes of reaching a tax deal with Republicans that would decouple rates on the rich from the middle class appear dead.  —  House GOP Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) threw cold water on the proposed plan …

Obama, in Indonesia, Criticizes Israel on Housing  —  JAKARTA, Indonesia — President Obama, stepping into an Israeli-Palestinian dispute during a homecoming visit to the world's largest Muslim majority nation, criticized Israel on Tuesday for its decision to advance the approval of some 1,000 …

Republicans May Yet Have Upper Hand in Senate  —  On paper, the numbers tell you the Democrats held on to a majority in the Senate last week.  —  In reality, things won't be quite that neat.  In fact, on some issues the Republicans actually may have a functional majority …

Ted Rall Book Excerpt: Let's Kill Some Christians and Tea Partiers  —  Ted Rall has a new book out titled The Anti-American Manifesto.  In it he makes an explicit call for a violent socialist revolution from within.  In case you think this is all a big joke, here's an excerpt from the book:

A New Bush, a Lot Like the Old One  —  He said he still felt sickened that no weapons of mass destruction were ever found in Iraq.  Yet former President George W. Bush said that his worst moment in the Oval Office came when the rap star Kanye West claimed that the president didn't care about black people.

Congressional Black Caucus: Black Republicans welcome  —  The Congressional Black Caucus says it will gladly accept the two newly elected black Republicans into its group, opening the door to partisan diversity in a caucus that has been historically Democratic.

In Alaska, a preview of the GOP's future  —  Alaska is darker in winter, colder all year and less densely populated than any other state.  Alaskans are unique, too: They enjoy a higher level of per capita federal spending than anyone else in the union, as well as a state constitution …

Alvin Greene mulls presidential bid  —  'Maybe.  I'll have to see,' Alvin Greene said about running for president.  —  Alvin Greene might run for president.  —  Greene, the unlikely Democratic Senate nominee in South Carolina who lost overwhelmingly to Republican Sen. Jim DeMint last week …

U.S. Report Faults Christie, as Prosecutor, on Hotel Stays  —  WASHINGTON — When he was a top federal prosecutor, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey routinely billed taxpayers for hotel stays whose cost exceeded government guidelines, according to a report the Justice Department released on Monday.

Manchin Fights Rumors of Deal to Switch Parties  —  West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D) on Monday evening batted down any suggestion that he is considering a party switch following his scheduled swearing-in next week as the Mountain State's junior Senator.  —  Additionally, a Senate Republican …

Obama's Best Speech  —  In India, the president defended free markets, free trade and free societies.  —  Every now and then a columnist ought to shock and dismay his most faithful readers.  So here goes: Barack Obama gave a terrific speech yesterday to India's parliament …

Obama Approval Advances to 47%, Up From 43% Pre-Election  —  Weekly average of 45% and demographic support patterns are unchanged  —  PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama earned a 47% approval rating from the American public in Gallup Daily tracking from Friday through Sunday …

My Application for Peter Thiel  —  Via Twitter, I see that one of the questions Peter Thiel asks applicants to his fellowship program (which unlike some of his philanthropic endeavors sounds to me like a totally good idea) is “Tell us one thing about the world that you strongly believe is true, but that most people think is not true.”

Proficiency of Black Students Is Found to Be Far Lower Than Expected  —  An achievement gap separating black from white students has long been documented — a social divide extremely vexing to policy makers and the target of one blast of school reform after another.

The bashing of American exceptionalism  —  Leftists mocking those who believe in the greatness of the U.S. is nothing new.  But their bizarre insistence that it's an artifact of right-wing jingoism and xenophobia certainly isn't helping Obama.  —  Last year, when asked if he believed …

A Jewish holy site  —  Rachel's Tomb is located on the northern outskirts of Bethlehem some 460 meters south of Jerusalem's municipal boundary.  The site has been identified for over 1,700 years as the grave of the Jewish matriarch Rachel.  The copious literature of Jewish …

What Do People Think A Third Party President Would Do?  —  Ben McGrath's discussion of the endless discussion of a Michael Bloomberg third party presidential bid is appropriately arch, but still doesn't, I think, quite get at the core madness of this talk:

And the GOP primary numbers...  PPP numbers looking ahead to the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination contest in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania find Mitt Romney looking strong in New England and the West and Mike Huckabee with a slight edge in the Midwest.

Sources: No Charges In CIA Interrogation Tape Case  —  No one will face criminal charges for destroying CIA videotapes that depicted interrogation of terrorism detainees during President George W. Bush's administration, NPR has learned.  —  Two sources close to the investigation …

Gay Couples to Sue Over U.S. Marriage Law  —  Joanne Pedersen tried to add her spouse to her federal health insurance on Monday.  She was rejected.  Again.  —  The problem is that while Ms. Pedersen is legally married to Ann Meitzen under Connecticut law, federal law does not recognize same-sex unions.