STATEMENT BY U.S. SENATOR BYRON DORGAN  —  “Representing North Dakota in the U.S. Congress for nearly 30 years has been one of the great privileges of my life.  —  “The work I have been able to do to expand our economy, create new opportunities in energy and water development …

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 …

Ritter Dropping Out in Colorado  —  A source tells Political Wire that Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) is ending his re-election campaign.  A fundraiser scheduled for tonight was canceled and all campaign staff was sent home in the middle of the day.  —  The decision does not appear …

Time for accountability at the White House  —  Now it turns out that there was a third uninvited guest at the White House state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, this one a member of the Indian delegation.  It was enough of a shock that the would-be stars Tareq and Michaele Salahi had crashed.

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 …

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:

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 …

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 …

Palin: It's War, not a Crime Spree  —  A strong statement from the People's Governor:

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 …

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.

‘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.

Our Incompetent Civilization  —  Sometimes we have to choose between evils.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  When does a civilization become incompetent?  I've been mulling the question in a number of contexts over the last year, including our inability to put a stop to Somali piracy …