TALKLEFT: Military Lawyer: Gitmo Conditions Have Worsened Since Inauguration. Hope and Change! Well, change.

A MAJOR LEAK of government secrets.

OBAMA SINKS IN POLLS OVER STIMULUS: “The partisan debate over an economic stimulus package has pushed President Barack Obama’s Job Approval Ratings down over the past week. The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Approval Index for Sunday shows that 36% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing as President. Twenty-five percent (25%) Strongly Disapprove to give Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of +11. . . . One week ago today, 44% Strongly Approved and 23% Strongly Disapproved to give Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of +21. In the first set of interviews conducted after inauguration day, 45% Strongly Approved of his performance while 16% Strongly Disapproved for a Presidential Approval Index rating of +29.” So, down 18 points in less than three weeks. I wonder how long this will continue?

GOOD QUESTION: “What makes people — even cops — think photography is a crime?”

TIM BLAIR is blogging the fires in Australia.

ODIERNO, OBAMA, and the surge.

GEITHNER’S CHOICE: “The deepest, darkest concern of bond professionals is whether bond holders of banks will ever be asked to share the bailout pain.”

GEE, DO YOU THINK? Public Pension Troubles Loom for State and Local Governments. “We have watched with trepidation as the stock market declines and along with it the value of our retirement accounts. Yet with our personal accounts, it’s our own problem. When it comes to public pensions, it’s the taxpayer’s problem. Underfunded pensions could cut two ways, leading to much higher taxes and/or cuts in government spending.”

MARK SANFORD: We’re moving close to ‘a savior-based economy’.

Plus, CBO Predicts Recession Will End in 2009 Without Stimulus. Hey, wait . . . .

UPDATE: More.

ANOTHER UPDATE: “What could go wrong?”

A REVIEW OF Coraline.

THIS MORNING I POSTED ON the Federal Obama Note and asked if anything like this was going on in 2001 with Bush. Reader John Kuhlman points to the George W. Bush $200 bill. Heh. I didn’t remember that. Bush looks so young there. No doubt we’ll be saying that about Obama soon enough . . . .

HMM: Peter Schiff: Stimulus Bill Will Lead to “Unmitigated Disaster.”

RADLEY BALKO: Maryland Bill Would Bring Transparency to Use of SWAT Teams. We need federal legislation limiting — and providing accountability for — no-knock raids. I’m told, though, that there’s no support, even from Democrats, for stripping sovereign immunity in the case of wrongful no-knock raids.

ARNOLD KLING: Not a stimulus bill, but a reparations bill.

CAR LUST: The Citroen 2CV.

OBAMA: “Famously unflappable?”

Plus, “Hey, whatever happened to that nice Barack Obama?”

I blame the purple prose.

UPDATE: “Obama’s clenched fist.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: “‘Doom’ rhetoric seen by some as ‘not presidential’.” It’s a far cry from “hope and change” and “Yes, we can,” isn’t it?

AS SEEN ON TV: Lab testing “mighty putty.”

OBAMA ON AFGHANISTAN: “Now he’s asking questions?” “It’s a bit late to be asking questions about Afghanistan, Mr. Obama. It’s beginning to seem that your policy positions undergo drastic revisions when it actually comes time for you to take responsibility, as opposed to standing on the sidelines and criticizing someone else.”

READER BETSY NOLAN NOTES THAT UNDER BUSH THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN FASCISM: Obama’s NSC Will Get New Power. Well, sure, under Bush.

TRAILERS: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion.

Also, Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse.

BACK UP YOUR BRAIN: What are the benefits of mind uploading?

Some related thoughts here.

WAS THE MELTDOWN CAUSED by Texas Hold ’em?

TRANSPARENCY: Geithner postpones unveiling TARP plan. They won’t tell you what they’re doing with the money you already gave them until they make sure Congress is giving them still more.

UPDATE: I don’t really think I missed the point about the politics . . . .

THE STIMULUS BILL: Undermining welfare reform? “Specifically, it would apparently reward states that expand their welfare caseloads–even if the increase is only the product of loosened work requirements rather than a worsening local economy. . . . If a state somehow succeeds at placing would-be recipients in jobs, it’s out of luck under this provision. To get the extra federal money, it has to get more people on welfare.”

Like the song says, they’ll turn us all into beggars ’cause they’re easier to please.

MEGAN MCARDLE: Worst sentence ever written in journalism?