Apologies From Dubai.  Nir Rosen: ‘I Feel Like Shrinking Now’  —  Somehow left-wing journalist Nir Rosen didn't realize how serious it was when he shot off those tasteless tweets about CBS News Chief Foreign Correspondent Lara Logan, who was sexually assaulted in Egypt.  Strangers are now lambasting him.

House Votes to End Alternate Jet Engine Program  —  In a sign that more than half the Republican freshmen are willing to cut military spending, the House voted 233-198 on Wednesday to cancel an alternate fighter jet engine that the Bush and Obama administrations had tried to kill for the last five years.

In major reversal, U.S. agrees to rebuke Israel in Security Council  —  The U.S. has informed Arab governments that it will support a U.N. Security Council statement reaffirming that the 15-nation body “does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity,” …

Sen. Scott Brown Speaks Out on Childhood Abuse  —  Tells “60 Minutes” Writing About Abuse Was An Act Of Catharsis For Him  —  Sen. Scott Brown reveals he was sexually abused as a child several times by a camp counselor in a “60 Minutes” interview with Lesley Stahl.

Rick Scott rejects money for Orlando-Tampa high-speed rail  —  TALLAHASSEE — Republican Gov. Rick Scott rejected $2.4 billion in federal stimulus money to build a high-speed train between Orlando and Tampa Wednesday, baffling supporters who already had spent $66 million getting ready for the project.

Chris Christie lays out a national vision  —  Gov. Chris Christie today delivered a broadside against the broken politics of Washington and the need for straight talk to solve the country's problems in a speech that will stoke talk of a 2012 presidential bid by the New Jersey Republican.

Justin Bieber Talks Sex, Politics, Music and Puberty In New ‘Rolling Stone’ Cover Story  —  'I don't think you should have sex with anyone unless you love them,' Bieber tells Vanessa Grigoriadis  —  In the new issue of Rolling Stone - on stands and online in the digital archives on February 18th …

Obama vulnerable...  Despite his recent popularity spike there should be no mistaking it- Barack Obama is vulnerable for reelection.  The problem for the GOP is that he's a lot more vulnerable against generic Republicans than the actual Republicans looking at the race.

Santorum Talks About Longtime Google Problem  —  Rick Santorum has a Google problem.  —  The former Pennsylvania Senator might be well-known on Capitol Hill, but his name more regularly produces blank stares in places like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, if recent polling is any guide.

Teacher Blogged About ‘Rat-Like’ Students  —  Pennsylvania Teacher Natalie Munroe, Suspended With Pay, Says She Did Nothing Wrong  —  Teacher Natalie Munroe makes no excuses for writing blog posts about her students which include statements like, “A complete and utter jerk in all ways,” …

Walker says his budget bill could change in response to GOP lawmakers Legislative committee expected to begin budget bill consideration shortly  —  By Jason Stein and Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel  —  Madison - Lawmakers are making some changes to a bill that would make public workers pay …

By now you may have heard of the outrage spawned by a proposed Mississippi license plate that honors Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest.  (For those searching for a pop culture reference, he was Forrest Gump's namesake).  —  As Tom Diemer noted earlier, Forrest “is regarded by admirers …

PBS stars fight for funding  —  Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) rarely holds press conferences with animated aardvarks, but he went for it on Wednesday, coaxing the shy Arthur the Aardvark up to the podium.  —  “Come over here Arthur,” Markey beckoned to the human-sized title character in the PBS series …

Social Security Options in the Grand Bargain  —  One of the more glaring possible outcomes in the grand bargain would be a plan to “reform” Social Security for the long term.  The President was praised by the Strengthen Social Security coalition for not proposing benefit cuts in the State of the Union or the 2012 budget proposal.

On Chauncey DeVega's Herman Cain Post  —  Editor's Note: Yesterday, Chauncey DeVega, an African-American writer, published a post on AlterNet assessing the CPAC performance of Herman Cain, a right-wing potential presidential candidate, in strong and provocative language.  Like DeVega, Cain is African American.

How to Control (and Cash In On) the Sarah Palin Brand  —  Adding Sarah Palin to any event makes it bigger, more high profile and, for one restaurant owner in Manhattan, more litigious.  —  Padriac Sheridan wanted to draw customers into his restaurant, Murphy & Gonzalez, on Waverly Place near NYU …

Carney debuts at White House  —  White House press secretary Jay Carney held his inaugural briefing Wednesday while the departure of a deputy considered for the job sent ripples through the press corps.  —  Deputy press secretary Bill Burton announced he was leaving the White House an hour …

UC-Davis Backs Away from ‘Christian Oppressors’ Policy  —  The University of California at Davis has backed away from a policy that defined religious discrimination as Christians oppressing non-Christians after more than two dozen Christian students filed a formal complaint.

Horowitz vs. Khan  —  Posted by Robert Spencer on Feb 16th, 2011 and filed under Daily Mailer, FrontPage.  You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.  You can skip to the end and leave a response.  Pinging is currently not allowed.  —  Robert Spencer is a scholar …

Alternatives to Inefficient Ticket Pricing  —  As history's greatest monster, I've long been disturbed by good bands' aversion to efficient demand-based pricing for their shows.  Annie Lowrey's article about LCD Soundsystem's anti-scalper efforts is confirming my priors: