Election 2010: Massachusetts Special Senate Election  —  2010 Massachusetts Senate: Coakley 50%, Brown 41%  —  State Attorney General Martha Coakley holds a nine-point lead over her Republican rival, state Senator Scott Brown, in Massachusetts' special U.S. Senate election to fill the seat of the late Edward M. Kennedy.

Airline security idiocy of the day: Milblogger Michael Yon handcuffed, Joan Rivers blocked  —  Milblogger/independent war correspondent extraordinaire Michael Yon reports that he was stopped at Sea-Tac airport and handcuffed by TSA agents: … I've met Michael and have blogged …

The Tea Party Teens  —  The United States opens this decade in a sour mood.  First, Americans are anxious about the future.  Sixty-one percent of Americans believe the country is in decline, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey.  Only 27 percent feel confident …

Obama: No more ‘finger-pointing’  —  President Obama will deliver a stern warning to his appointees at a meeting Tuesday afternoon that he won't tolerate efforts by the CIA, the State Department and others to shift blame for the recent intelligence foul-up to other parts of the government, said spokesman Robert Gibbs.

Florida GOP Chairman Resigns  —  The resignation of Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer today — a decision that came after weeks of calls for his head from conservatives — raises the question of whether Gov. Charlie Crist's already embattled Senate candidacy has sustained a blow from which it cannot recover.

Pelosi tells C-SPAN: ‘There has never been a more open process’  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) defended Congress' work on a healthcare bill Tuesday saying the process has displayed historic transparency, just as C-SPAN mounts an effort to open the negotiations.

Why Didn't He Just Blow Himself Up In The Toilet?  —  A reader asks a very interesting question about the undie-bomber - why did he get back into his seat to detonate a bomb that had a ramshackle detonator and where he could be overcome by fellow travelers?  Read the whole email:

What the Dems know that we don't: Universal Voter Registration  —  Many are puzzled that Democrats persist in ramming unpopular and destructive legislation down our collective throats while seemingly unconcerned by their plummeting poll numbers.  A widespread belief is that the Democrats …

Sweatshirt Sparks School Controversy  —  Hoodie Contains Image Of World Trade Center Towers  —  DEARBORN, Mich. — About 15 Arab-American students at Edsel Ford High School are in trouble over a sweatshirt they had made over the holiday break.  —  On the back of the sweatshirt …

Steele Doesn't Know If GOP Ready To Lead  —  RNC chair Michael Steele doesn't think his party can take back the House in '10, and even if they do, he doesn't know if the GOP is ready.  —  Appearing on Sean Hannity's nationally syndicated show the same day his new book, “Right Now,” …

Cut This Story!  —  ONE REASON SEEKERS of news are abandoning print newspapers for the Internet has nothing directly to do with technology.  It's that newspaper articles are too long.  On the Internet, news articles get to the point.  Newspaper writing, by contrast, is encrusted with conventions …

Politico Editor Defends Platform Granted To Cheney  —  Politico editor John Harris is pushing back hard on criticism of his publication for providing a frequent, often uncritical platform to Dick Cheney, claiming in an email to me that “trying to get newsworthy people to say interesting things is part of what we do.”

‘Avatar’ arouses conservatives' ire  —  Conservatives are blind to the 3-D blockbuster's charms.  —  A Na'vi warrior races into battle on a Thanator, a fearsome panther-like creature native to Pandora.  (WETA / Twentieth Century Fox)  —  It's no secret that “Avatar” has been stunningly successful on nearly every front.

France to introduce new law banning ‘psychological violence’ in marriages  —  France will become the first country in the world to ban ‘psychological violence’ within marriage later this year.  —  The new law, which would also apply to co-habiting couples, would see people getting criminal records …

BRIT HUME SPEAKS, AGAIN.... I didn't intend to return to the subject, but Fox News' Brit Hume spoke to Bill O'Reilly last night about his calls for Tiger Woods to change his religion.  At this point, Hume now wants to debate the meaning of the word “proselytize.”

OH SNAP!  Pelosi On Obama: ‘There Were A Number Of Things He Was For On The Campaign Trail’  —  Speaker Nancy Pelosi had little to say this afternoon at a press conference following a meeting between House leaders and health care principals.  She and other members acknowledged that a number …

Glenn Beck on birther issue: 'Dumbest thing I've ever heard'  —  Claims controversy is political ‘dream come true’ for Obama  —  On the air today, popular radio host Glenn Beck mocked “birthers” and claimed there is a concerted campaign to get those questioning Barack Obama's constitutional eligibility onto …

No Longer Majority Black, Harlem Is in Transition  —  For nearly a century, Harlem has been synonymous with black urban America.  Given its magnetic and growing appeal to younger black professionals and its historic residential enclaves and cultural institutions, the neighborhood's reputation …

Blacklist: Who's on Iran intel ministry's list?  —  Yesterday, Iran's Intelligence Ministry blacklisted dozens of American and European think tanks, universities, NGOs and rights groups as “subversive” responsible for sowing unrest inside Iran.  —  So, who made the list?  —  Herewith, a translation of the full list.