Facebook May Hire Robert Gibbs, Former Obama Aide  —  Facebook is in talks to hire Robert Gibbs, President Obama's former White House press secretary, for a senior role in helping to manage the company's communications, people briefed on the negotiations said.

Fiscal Showdown Looms in Capitol  —  The White House and Democratic lawmakers, with less than two weeks left to avoid a government shutdown, are assembling a proposal for roughly $20 billion in additional spending cuts that could soon be offered to Republicans, according to people close to the budget talks.

Ayers affirms he wrote Dreams from my Father  —  Last Thursday evening at Montclair State University, with a video camera rolling, Bill Ayers volunteered that yes indeed he had written the acclaimed Barack Obama memoir, Dreams from My Father.  —  Unprompted, Ayers also noted that while Dreams deserves …

How my wait in a closet almost brought down the White House  —  I was kidnapped.  —  That was news to me.  —  My paper and I conspired to cover this up, to protect Vice President Joe Biden and his staff from charges they had imprisoned me at a fundraiser last week.  —  That was news to me too.

Libyan Rebel Gains Could Be Fleeting, U.S. Military Says  —  TRIPOLI, Libya — As rebel forces backed by allied warplanes pushed toward one of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's most crucial bastions of support, the American military warned on Monday that their rapid gains could quickly be reversed without continued coalition air support.

QUOTE OF THE DAY.... That disgraced former House Speaker sure does say strange things. … Yeah, just think about it.  Unless we all become conservative Christians, the next thing you know, prominent leaders might start cheating on multiple wives.  —  Oh wait.  —  Everything about Gingrich's little tirade is bizarre.

American Thought Police  —  Recently William Cronon, a historian who teaches at the University of Wisconsin, decided to weigh in on his state's political turmoil.  He started a blog, “Scholar as Citizen,” devoting his first post to the role of the shadowy American Legislative Exchange Council …

When standardized test scores soared in D.C., were the gains real?  —  WASHINGTON — In just two years, Crosby S. Noyes Education Campus went from a school deemed in need of improvement to a place that the District of Columbia Public Schools called one of its “shining stars.”

A Strange Man Is Following You  —  Shouting about mind-control assassins, the 9/11 conspiracy, and the Bilderberg Group, radio host Alex Jones has cornered the bipartisan paranoia market.  —  A shadowy group of elites—mainly international bankers but also George W. Bush, Barack Obama …

GOP Can't Ignore Wisconsin Recall Battle  —  For weeks, the national media focused on union protests in Wisconsin.  —  Aging hippies trashed the state Capitol.  Union members were bused in from across the country in color-coded T-shirts.  Democrat state senators hid in an Illinois motel.

Joe McQuaid's Publisher's Notebook: The newspaper's a year older; and we are still being blamed  —  This past Thursday was an anniversary.  The “Union” part of the Union Leader begn its 149th year of continuous daily publication.  It was a weekly even earlier.  — > Jim Grady: RGGI benefits all Granite Staters (13)

Govs face budget blowback  —  It was supposed to be one of the clearest messages of the 2010 elections: Voters were finally fed up with government spending.  —  It felt like the usual rules had changed, and that Americans were worried enough about the size of government to support a new era of belt-tightening.

N.Y. Budget Deal Cuts Aid to Schools and Health Care  —  Culminating weeks of secretive negotiations and intense political jockeying, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and leaders of the Legislature on Sunday announced a $132.5 billion budget agreement that would cut spending, impose no major new taxes …

Chavez urges Venezuelans to cut calorie intake  —  CARACAS, Venezuela—President Hugo Chavez urged Venezuelans on Sunday to cut their calories to avoid obesity — the latest lifestyle recommendation by the self-proclaimed socialist crusader.  —  Chavez has lobbied in recent weeks …

Haley Barbour, slavery and the Civil War  —  Haley Barbour, the Mississippi governor and likely 2012 Republican presidential aspirant, has recently made a series of missteps involving race and the Civil Rights Movement.  He seemed unclear about basic historical points.

Joe Bageant, 1946-2011  —  After a vibrant life, Joe Bageant died yesterday following a four-month struggle with cancer.  He was 64.  Joe is survived by his wife, Barbara, his three children, Timothy, Patrick and Elizabeth, and thousands of friends and admirers.  He is also survived by his work and ideas.

Wisconsin comes to London  —  Ok, I'm being a bit parochial, but our UK-based colleagues haven't posted on it, so I felt I should say something.  (I thought about threatening them that I'd embarrass the whole site with a loving review of the new Slade Boxed Set (UK ) if one of them didn't do that …