Four Pinocchios for ‘King of Bain’  —  Your Browser DoesNot Support IFrames. … — Voice-over from “King of Bain” video promoted by a pro-Newt Gingrich super PAC, “Winning Our Future.”  —  Newt Gingrich, meet Michael Moore!  —  The 29-minute video “King of Bain” is such an over-the-top assault …

Inside the Fed in 2006: A Coming Crisis, and Banter  —  WASHINGTON — As the housing bubble entered its waning hours in 2006, top Federal Reserve officials marveled at the desperate antics of home builders seeking to lure buyers.  —  The officials laughed about the cars that builders …

Obama to propose combining agencies to shrink federal government  —  President Obama will ask Congress on Friday for the power to shrink the federal government, proposing a first step of combining several trade and commerce agencies under a plan that the White House said could eliminate …

Update to my Previous Post on Truth Vigilantes  —  I have appended a note statement from Jill Abramson, the executive editor, responding to this post.  —  First, though, I must lament that “truth vigilante” generated way more heat than light.  A large majority of respondents weighed in with …

Colbert for president (again)  —  (CNN) - Faux-news host and comedian Stephen Colbert announced Thursday night he was launching his second run for president in South Carolina.  —  “I'm proud to announce I plan to form an exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for my candidacy …

U.S. Warns Top Iran Leader Not to Shut Strait of Hormuz  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is relying on a secret channel of communication to warn Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that closing the Strait of Hormuz is a “red line” that would provoke an American response …

Most of Apple's $82 billion cash stockpile is ‘trapped’ overseas  —  Apple may have enough cash on hand to make Scrooge McDuck's money vault look like a kiddie pool by comparison, but according to SeekingAlpha, most of that cash is effectively trapped overseas.

Book Depicts Cranky Obama On Baghdad Visit  —  The then-candidate “didn't want to take pictures with any more soldiers.  —  President Obama at a recent Pentagon briefing.  —  (Getty Images / SAUL LOEB)  —  Michael Hastings' new book, The Operators, jabs at what could be a vulnerable spot …

NYC Gun Charges Dropped.  Now I Can Speak Out.  —  On December 15, 2011 at approximately 5:15 a.m., I was at LaGuardia International airport preparing to check in for a flight out of the city.  During a routine check-in, I requested a firearms declaration form from the ticket agent.

How low can he go?  —  Everyone has probably heard the corny “I once caught a fish this big” joke.  A guy boasts about the size of the fish he reeled in, but when pressed, he gradually reduces the actual size of his catch.  The little comedic routine is about exaggeration.  —  I wonder if Mitt Romney has heard it.

America Isn't a Corporation  —  “And greed — you mark my words — will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.”  —  That's how the fictional Gordon Gekko finished his famous “Greed is good” speech in the 1987 film “Wall Street.”