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.

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,” …

Gov. Christie chides Republicans over entitlement reform  —  New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) urged Congress to address the solvency of programs like Social Security and Medicare and warned Republicans they could face primaries for failing to cut government spending.

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.

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,” …

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.

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 …

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 …

Let's Be Clear  —  I've said this before, and I will say it again.  Unless your proposal includes a substantial increase in taxes and a substantial amount of cuts to the military budget as well as ending the farm subsidies and giveaways to big oil and big energy and big business …

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.

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.

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.

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.

Is Seasteading the Future?  —  Here's a novel idea: Escape the suffocating chains of intrusive government by starting your own country!  —  That's Patri Friedman's idea.  He comes from an impressive line of libertarian thinkers.  Milton Friedman, the Nobel-prize-winning free-market economist, was his grandfather.

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 …

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.

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 …

The Voice of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood  —  He is a hypermarket of dogma, dispensing advice on subjects ranging from mother's milk to suicide bombing.  But few have as much influence on Sunni Muslims as the Muslim televangelist Youssef al-Qaradawi.  He says what the Muslim Brotherhood in Egpyt thinks …

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 …

Businesses are refusing to hire the unemployed, commission told  —  Being unemployed is, for many, not fun.  There are no co-workers to mock at the water cooler, no expense accounts on which to wine and dine associates and no impressive title to drop when you're trying to pick up the ladies (or men, for that matter).

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:

Bill Clinton in Surprise Talk on Tech: It's the Institutions, Stupid  —  The former president made a surprise visit to the Wired for Change conference in New York today to speak on the use—and overuse—of technology in developing and developed nations.  —  Though he joked he was too much of a dinosaur …