Obama meets with liberal columnists  —  Obama held a meeting with several columnists and liberal commentators this morning, following up on last night's dinner with conservative writers, according to sources with knowledge of the meeting.  —  The group included the Washington Post's E.J. Dionne …

Cheney Tells Jim Lehrer Tonight: No Torture, Few Mistakes, Economy Not Our Fault  —  NEW YORK In an exit interview with PBS's Jim Lehrer on the NewsHour airing tonight, Vice President Cheney repeats claims that Saddam Hussein worked with al-Qaeda.  Asked if he made any mistakes in his eight years as V.P. …

WARREN COUNTY, N.J. NEWS  —  Real-time news for Belvidere, Phillipsburg and more  —  Boy named Adolf Hitler, his sisters removed from parents' home by New Jersey authorities … State authorities have removed Adolf Hilter Campbell and his two sisters from their parents' home in Holland Township …

IMF Informed Geithner on Taxes  —  Senate Delays Treasury Nominee's Hearing Till Jan. 21; Obama Vote of Confidence  —  Timothy Geithner, whose nomination as Treasury secretary has been delayed by his past failure to pay taxes, was repeatedly advised in writing by the International Monetary Fund …

U.S. military report warns ‘sudden collapse’ of Mexico is possible  —  President-elect Barack Obama listens as Mexico's President Felipe Calderon makes a statement to reporters in Washington, Monday, Jan. 12, 2009.  Mexico is one of two countries that “bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse …

Obama to End Military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy  —  WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama will allow gays to serve openly in the military by overturning the controversial “don't ask, don't tell” policy that marred President Clinton's first days in office, according to incoming White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

The Surpassing Significance of Herring  —  By way of full disclosure, I was one of the defendant's lawyers in the Herring case, though my involvement in it was very limited.  I am not an expert on the Fourth Amendment, but my preliminary reaction is that we will at some point soon regard …

Kennedy Fades As New Yorkers Back Cuomo For Senate, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; More Voters Don't Think Kennedy Is Qualified  —  New York State voters have cooled on Caroline Kennedy and more voters now prefer State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo 31 - 24 percent for Hillary Clinton's U.S. Senate seat …

Poll: Broad Backing for Obama, Stimulus  —  WASHINGTON — Americans support the economic-stimulus plan being pushed by President-elect Barack Obama but worry the government will spend too much money and widen the budget deficit, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found.

Bank of America to Get Billions in U.S. Aid  —  Deal Is Said to Be Reached on Fresh Bailout Cash; Lender Told Government It Needed Funds to Absorb Ailing Merrill Lynch  —  WASHINGTON — The U.S. government has agreed to commit billions in additional aid to Bank of America Corp. to help …

It's an injustice to NOT marry girls aged 10, says Saudi cleric … Saudi Arabia's most senior cleric has told followers it is permissible for ten-year-old girls to marry and anyone who think they are too young are doing the youngsters ‘an injustice’.  —  Abdul-Azeez ibn Abdullaah Aal ash-Shaikh …

R.I.P. Patrick McGoohan, The Prisoner's TV Visionary  —  “I am not a number, I am a free man!”  Patrick McGoohan's character Number Six shouted at the panoptic eye in the sky at the beginning of every episode of the revolutionary '60s sci-fi TV series The Prisoner.

Afghan Schoolgirls Undeterred by Attack  —  KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — One morning two months ago, Shamsia Husseini and her sister were walking through the muddy streets to the local girls school when a man pulled alongside them on a motorcycle and posed what seemed like an ordinary question.

New official portrait released  —  Today we are releasing the new official portrait for President Barack Obama.  —  It was taken by Pete Souza, the newly-announced official White House photographer.  —  It is the first time that an official presidential portrait was taken with a digital camera.

Obama's early stumbles  —  Longtime listener, first-time caller.  Although I wasn't yet alive in the times it describes, I too was blown away (pun intended) by “The Weather Underground” film, not so much by the namby-pamby William Ayers — who for all his scandalous reputation …

The House Republicans Propose A Stimulus Alternative  —  There is no pride of authorship, President-elect Barack Obama said last week.  His economic team is open to and all ideas, regardless of progenitor.  —  So — the Republican Study Committee in the House has come out with an all-tax, no spending variant.

Ex-Bush aide takes blame for ‘Mission Accomplished’  —  (CNN) - It's a moment President Bush has repeatedly called a mistake: Delivering a speech on board the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Spring of 2003 with a “Mission Accomplished” banner featured prominently behind him.

Bush Presidency Closes With 34% Approval, 61% Disapproval  —  Three-quarters of Republicans approve of Bush, up slightly from recent months  — USA - Democrats - Government and Politics - Independents - Presidential Job Approval - Republicans - The Presidency - Americas - Northern America

Senate takes oath as Blagojevich impeachment jurors  —  SPRINGFIELD—The Illinois Senate took an oath today to be sworn in as jurors in the historic impeachment trial of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, hours after he made his first Capitol appearance since his arrest last month on federal corruption charges.

Nick Fury no more?  Samuel L. Jackson says 'Maybe I won't be Nick Fury'  —  EXCLUSIVE AND UPDATED  —  Samuel L. Jackson, clearly bristling, said today that negotiations to put him in the role of Nick Fury have broken down because “there seems to be an economic crisis in the Marvel Comics world.”

Why Israel Can't Make Peace With Hamas  —  IN the summer of 2006, at a moment when Hezbollah rockets were falling virtually without pause on northern Israel, Nizar Rayyan, husband of four, father of 12, scholar of Islam and unblushing executioner, confessed to me one of his frustrations.

New York Mag to Writers: You're Keeping Your Jobs, Getting a Pay Cut  —  Media layoff stories are, depressingly, old hat by now (but be ready for more).  Less common: tales of media companies asking their surviving employees to take pay cuts.  —  But that's what New York Magazine …

Obama's early stumbles  —  Dear Camille,  —  When Obama is reading off a teleprompter or in a scripted environment like a debate (where the game is to plug in your prepared sound bites regardless of the question), he comes across as a magnificent and inspiring speaker.

Czech art spoof sparks EU outrage  —  As if the Russian gas crisis and war in Gaza were not headache enough, the Czech Republic, which took over the rotating EU presidency at the start of the year, has been landed with a cultural debacle.  —  Sited prominently in the headquarters of the EU Council …

Bush hosted Limbaugh for private birthday lunch yesterday.»  —  Yesterday, a fill-in host for Rush Limbaugh told listeners that Limbaugh had traveled to Washington, DC for a “secret meeting” and dropped several hints the meeting would be with Obama.  When news broke that Obama was to dine …

Gannett Announces One-Week, Unpaid Furloughs  —  NEW YORK Gannett is implementing a long-rumored furlough program that wil require most U.S. employees to take a week off without pay.  —  Gannett CEO Craig Dubow announced the plan in a memo today, sent to E&P, and posted below.

Ringo's Pix: Bad Craziness in Los Angeles  —  LGF operative “Ringo the Gringo” was at the Anti-Israel Demonstration in West LA on Jan. 10, 2009, and has dozens of photos and video clips of this eruption of insanity.  —  This video shows protesters chanting “Allahu Akbar,” then attacking a car whose driver was flying an Israeli flag.