New Speaker Vows to Share Power—a Tricky Proposition  —  When John Boehner takes over one of the most powerful jobs in Washington this week, he says his first order of business is to make himself less powerful.  —  On Wednesday the new speaker of the House of Representatives plans to offer …

Upcoming NewSouth ‘Huck Finn’ Eliminates the ‘N’ Word  —  Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a classic by most any measure—T.S. Eliot called it a masterpiece, and Ernest Hemingway pronounced it the source of “all modern American literature.”  Yet, for decades …

Palin re-tweet raises questions  —  (CNN) - Normally, it's what Sarah Palin tweets that makes news.  This time it's what she has re-tweeted.  —  The former Alaska governor Monday relayed a comment from gay conservative pundit Tammy Bruce, who was expressing her criticism …

THE ORIGINALIST  —  Last October marked the 24th anniversary of Justice Antonin Scalia's appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Well known for his sharp wit as well as his originalist approach to the Constitution, Justice Scalia consistently asks more questions during oral arguments and makes …

Santorum Takes Aim at Romney, Palin  —  Former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., at a Capitol Hill coffee shop, trying to give a jolt to his presidential ambitions.  —  Rick Santorum the senator didn't shy from controversy.  Apparently, neither will Rick Santorum the presidential candidate.

9th Circuit Sends Prop.  8 Case Back To California Supreme Court On Certified Question  —  I just received an automated e-mail from the 9th Circuit, as follows (emphasis mine): … Here is the certified question centering on whether the proponents of Prop. 8 have standing under California state law:

Strict Obstructionist  —  MITCH MCCONNELL IS A MASTER MANIPULATOR AND STRATEGIST— THE UNHERALDED ARCHITECT OF THE REPUBLICAN RESURGENCE.  NOW THAT HIS RELENTLESS TACTICS HAVE MADE HIS PARTY VICTORIOUS, HE IS POISED TO TAKE DOWN THE PRESIDENT AND WIN THE SENATE MAJORITY HE COVETS …

G.O.P. Sets Up Huge Target for Budget Ax  —  WASHINGTON — The incoming Republican majority in the House is moving to make good on its promise to cut $100 billion from domestic spending this year, a goal eagerly backed by conservatives but one carrying substantial political and economic risks.

Obama weighs major reshuffling of staff  —  As President Obama returns from Hawaii, he is weighing a major reshuffling of his staff that could see as many as eight people playing new key roles in the weeks ahead, Democrats familiar with the process said.  —  Obama has been mulling for months …

Why Journalists Aren't Standing Up for WikiLeaks  —  Three reasons that efforts to prosecute Julian Assange aren't drawing more of an outcry about the First Amendment.  —  If you think prosecuting journalists is the province solely of the sort of authoritarian governments in the developing world …

Is Kathy Griffin Going Too Far Targeting 16-Year Old Willow Palin?  —  Kathy Griffin was booed by U.S. troops when she made “fat jokes” about Bristol Palin at a Dec. 4, 2010 VH1 event.  (Reuters)  —  Kathy Griffin announced her New Year's resolution to continue a verbal assault on the Palin family.

Mass La. bird deaths puzzle investigators  —  LABARRE — Hundreds of dead and dying birds littered a quarter-mile stretch of highway in Pointe Coupee Parish on Monday as motorists drove over and around them.  —  State biologists are trying to determine what led to the deaths …

Strained States Turning to Laws to Curb Labor Unions  —  Faced with growing budget deficits and restive taxpayers, elected officials from Maine to Alabama, Ohio to Arizona, are pushing new legislation to limit the power of labor unions, particularly those representing government workers, in collective bargaining and politics.

With New Heart Pump, Cheney Resumes Old Life  —  By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN, HELENE COOPER and MICHAEL D. SHEAR  —  WASHINGTON — A few days before Christmas, former Vice President Dick Cheney emerged from several months of a self-imposed political sabbatical to headline a fund-raiser for Maria Cino …

Gerry Rafferty dies aged 63  —  Singer-songwriter behind Stuck in the Middle with You and Baker Street endured battles with music industry and alcohol  —  The singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty, whose songs such as Stuck in the Middle with You, Baker Street and Get it Right Next Time soundtracked the 1970s …

Schumer: Health care foes should forgo coverage  —  New York Senator Chuck Schumer is pushing Republican members of Congress who oppose last year's health care legislation to decline health coverage for themselves and their families.  —  Democrats have been trying to cast Republican members' acceptance …

Holly Petraeus To Be Elizabeth Warren's Pick For Top Post In New Consumer Protection Agency (EXCLUSIVE)  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … Elizabeth Warren, the Obama administration appointee now establishing a consumer financial protection agency, plans to name the wife of General David Petraeus …

The Unexpected Return of ‘Duck and Cover’  —  Sixty years ago, in 1951, Ray Maurer and Anthony Rizzo produced a film for the federal government's Civil Defense agency in response to Soviet nuclear tests.  Featuring an animated turtle named Bert and real-life schoolchildren from New York …

Ohio Ruling: No Substitution of Foreclosure Documents in Robo-Signing Cases  —  Thanks to an obscure ruling from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, mortgage lenders in the Cleveland, Ohio area trying to substitute new documents for ones found to be faulty will have 30 days to explain …

Obama Job Approval Reaches 50% for First Time Since Spring  —  Returns to that level for first time since late May/early June 2010  —  PRINCETON, N.J. — Barack Obama's job approval rating reached the symbolic 50% mark in the latest three-day average from Gallup Daily tracking.

Bibi sends Obama letter requesting Pollard release  —  WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Neyanyahu wrote President Obama urging clemency for Jonathan Pollard.  —  “At the time of his arrest, Jonathan Pollard was acting as an agent of the Israeli government,” Netanyahu wrote in his letter, sent Tuesday.

Vulture in Saudi Custody Suspected as Mossad Agent  —  Follow Israel news on and .  —  Saudi Arabian security forces have captured a vulture that was carrying a global positioning satellite (GPS) transmitter and a ring etched with the words “Tel Aviv University.”

An Assassination in Pakistan  —  The photograph of Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, Punjab Governor Salman Taseer's accused assassin, credited to photographer Sabir Khan, is a chilling snapshot of where thirty years of state-sponsored Islamism has dragged Pakistan.

Theater Audience Boos Tea Party Billionaire David Koch  —  David Koch masks his role as one of the top financiers of the Tea Party movement and pro-polluter front groups by loudly tacking his name to more laudable charities, like the New York city ballet.  Koch, who has professed his devotion to …