In recent months, New York Gov. David Paterson is said to have been increasingly shut off from his staff; so maybe he won’t notice if everyone around him resigns? Paterson’s communications director, Peter Kauffmann, stepped down Thursday. "Unfortunately, as recent developments have come to light, I cannot in good conscience continue in my position," he said. Kauffmann’s testimony was critical in an ethics panel’s finding that Paterson and aides illegally obtained World Series tickets. So far, the superintendent of the state police and the assistant secretary to the governor for criminal justice have also resigned. Paterson’s political supporters are meeting today to open talks on whether the he should resign. One guest who will be attending the discussion said “‘I don’t see how’ Paterson can keep his job.”

Nancy Pelosi has been counting her health-care votes: Does this mean she has to start over? Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) said Thursday that he and 11 other Democrats will not vote for health-care reform unless it includes strict language to prevent federal money from being spent on abortion services. Stupak did not specify who those Democrats were, but it’s likely that they all voted for the original House bill, which included abortion language that was later scrapped from the Senate and Obama’s bills. Nancy Pelosi stressed, “There is no change in the access to abortion, no more no less. It is abortion neutral.”

A man walked into the main entrance of the Pentagon at around 6:40 p.m. Thursday and opened fire, hitting two officers. The officers, who both sustained non-life-threatening injuries, shot back and hit the suspect, whose injuries are reported to be more serious. A possible motive was not disclosed. Both the Pentagon and the Pentagon Metro station were closed due to the incident. According to MSNBC, the victims were taken to George Washington Hospital for treatment. In a live ABC News press conference held outside the Pentagon, Chief of Pentagon police, Richard Keevill, said the wounded officers recalled the suspect walking toward them nonchalantly and without signs of distress. The officers believed he was reaching into his pocket for a security pass when he drew a gun and began firing. The incident occurred outside without words being exchanged. Keevill commended the officers for acting quickly and said, “We have layers of security and it worked.” The Associated Press identified the shooter as John Patrick Bedell, a 36 year-old  believed to be an American citizen, and according to the AP, a second suspect might be involved. 

It’s that time of year: when Turkey throws a fit over the Armenian genocide. Turkey recalled its ambassador from Washington on Thursday after the House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved a resolution calling on President Obama to “characterize the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide.” The White House and State Department tried to thwart the vote, but the House moved ahead anyway. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan furiously denounced it, saying “We condemn this resolution, which accuses the Turkish nation of a crime it has not committed.” The committee vote squeaked by, 23-22. If the full House passes it, it could jeopardize Turkey’s cooperation in Iraq.

Representative William Delahunt (D-MA) will not seek reelection to Congress after seven terms spanning nearly 40 years. At 68 years old, the lawmaker is finally calling it quits. “It's got nothing to do with politics,” said Delahunt, who had been considering leaving the House for some time, but was talked out of it by the late Ted Kennedy. While the lawmaker has struggled with Kennedy’s death, he concludes that the strenuous House schedule was taking a toll on his personal life. Delahunt’s retirement marks the 17th among House Democrats. He was regarded as one of the House’s “most ardent and reliable liberals,” and his departure will mean another open seat for potential Republicans, making many Democrats nervous.

If you see a long line outside Disneyland, don’t worry—it’s probably for job applicants, not Space Mountain. A job fair at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, drew 1,600 people—in the rain. Universal Studios received more than 1,100 job applications in one day last month, and Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm have received so many applications they are postponing their job fairs. Applications are coming from everyone from unemployed mortgage agents to sales clerks to construction workers looking for temporary positions. With the unemployment rate in California at 12.4 percent, those theme-park jobs are no longer just for teenagers seeking their first jobs. “We are getting a lot of people who, in a normal economy, would be considered overqualified,” said a manager at Universal Studios Hollywood. Anyone have a Fast Pass?

Only adding to public distrust in Toyota, the car company has been found to be keeping information that could help explain safety issues due to sudden unintended acceleration confidential. Similar to airline “black boxes,” cars are equipped with event data recorders, or EDRs, but, in statements made to the Associated Press, Toyota gave contradicting and ambiguous information about what the EDRs actually recorded. The AP also found Toyota has refused to provide important information when sought out by crash victims and survivors, used proprietary software for its EDRs (until recently, only one laptop in the U.S. contained software capable of reading data after a crash), and, in some lawsuits where recorder information was requested, either settled or provided incomplete printouts.

Losing at the Oscars isn't losing at all: With a consolation gift bag of $85,000 worth of free goodies, even the most disheartened nominee won't be going home empty-handed. Included in Oscar gift bags will be vouchers for three vacations: an $85,000 African safari with a personal chef, a $14,500 stay in Monaco, and a $7,000 trip to Connecticut. Also included are gift cards for online shopping, gourmet chocolate, an indoor skydiving experience, and fitness classes. All this without mention of the year of free Altoids and a "green" mattress. Better yet are celebrity gift suites like the one that Sarah Palin combed over today with her family. This year's Oscar suite includes a chance at electronic cigarettes, $8,800 red-eye removal surgery (don't ask), premium gaming apparel (clothes to wear while gaming), and a pill that aims to prevent breast cancer. But nothing beats this year's Golden Globes swag bags, however, where micro-pigs were handed out to any celebrity that attended an hour-long seminar on how to care for the bacon bits.

The University of Pennsylvania last week became the first school to announce that it will provide a spot on its application for students to indicate their sexual orientation. Is this a good idea? There seem to be some obvious objections—for example, hypercompetitive students will simply lie about their sexual orientations if they think it will give them an edge. But Gabriel Arana raises some more interesting points at the American Prospect: “[S]tudents who are out in high school live in communities that are more tolerant. Statistically, these communities are more educated, less religious, wealthier, and whiter. Having grown up in a conservative, largely Hispanic community on the U.S.-Mexico border, I would not have felt comfortable identifying as gay on college applications. So if the intention is to recruit gay students, the effect will be felt only by the subset of gay applicants who, at 18, feel comfortable identifying as such. It really becomes a proxy for other demographic attributes that on the whole are largely indicative of privilege.” Furthermore, Arana points out that elite schools like Penn already have large and active LGBT communities—in general, they don’t face the same problems in attracting gay students than they do with students of racial minorities.

After two decades of dino debate, the results are in. In an "international consensus," a panel of "blue-ribbon" scientists have decided the Chicxulub asteroid-impact crater located in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula was, indeed, the cause of the mass extinction occurring 65 million years ago, wiping out the dinosaurs and the majority of life on Earth. An international group of more than three dozen scientists reported an unquestionable link between the Chicxulub impact event and the K-T boundary mass extinction. The initial discovery of the crater's significance happened in 1991, with the debate finally laid to rest this week.

Senator John F. Kerry (D-MA) has asked the Food and Drug Administration to lift their 1983 ban on letting gay men donate blood. Kerry, among 16 Democrats and one independent, sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg asking her to lift the "discriminatory" ban. "Not a single piece of scientific evidence supports the ban," said one senator in a statement. The ban was imposed during the height of the AIDS epidemic, even though the FDA currently tests blood donations for HIV and other diseases. Despite those efforts, the FDA defended the ban, saying, "The agency understands and respects the desire of everyone, including MSM [men who have sex with men] to donate blood and save lives."

The Internet was abuzz Thursday morning with rumors that Chief Justice John Roberts would resign for personal reasons—a report that was later proven to be false. Where did it originate? Above the Law says it started in Professor Peter Tague’s criminal-law class at Georgetown University Law Center. Apparently, Tague taught a lesson today on what one student calls “the validity of informants not explaining their sources.” He started the 9 a.m. class by telling his students that, they couldn’t tell anyone, but he had heard from unnamed sources that Roberts would be stepping down. At 9:30, he told them he was joking, but by that point the rumor had already taken off online, notably on RadarOnline.com, which published its first report at 9:10 a.m. EST.

Critics are not buying the hype on Tim Burton's dark take on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. It’s sitting at a 58 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The Telegraph writes "What a letdown." The Los Angeles Times agrees, noting that the film feels "more like a Burton derivative than something he actually did himself." Also problematic is the film's timing—as the first 3-D release since Avatar, Alice suffers because Burton filmed in 2-D and converted the footage into 3-D. The result? The movie feels too mired in the old school of 3-D, and comes across as a bit visually strained. All in all, however, a tedious narrative and an overplayed, epic, good vs. evil ending left the L.A. Times critic wishing that the film "felt less like corporate moves and more like situations that came from the heart."

Is there a fantasy writer feud brewing, or is J.K. Rowling just really busy? The Harry Potter author declined an invitation to present an award at Sunday's Oscars, citing her work on her next book. Rowling and Twilight author Stephenie Meyer were invited to present the Best Adapted Screenplay prize together, and while Meyer responded positively to the idea, Rowling didn't find the trip from England worth it. She wrote on her Web site that the world "won't be hearing from me often I am afraid, as pen and paper is my priority at the moment." Rowland's decision not to attend comes on the same day as the millionaire reaches another milestone: The Harry Potter books topped the list of "Top 10 Books to Pass On" to future generations by Brits—a full four spots higher than the No. 5 Twilight series (also included were the 9/11 Commission Report and Barack Obama's memoirs).

Students marched around UCLA's Bruin Plaza to protest cuts in education funding. Thursday marked the first day of peaceful rallies, walkouts, and teach-ins at universities and high schools. Similar rallies are occurring throughout the state, including at UC Berkeley and Cal State Dominguez Hills, where students played a mock Wheel of Fortune game with prizes such as "graduating in four years with a good education" and "getting a 30 percent fee increase." Most activity has been peaceful, although there are reports of a UC Santa Cruz incident in which demonstrators smashed the windshield of a car. Protesters at UCLA have obtained a permit to march off campus and major traffic delays are expected.

A few years too late, perhaps, but Sony is building a PlayStation smart phone to take on the iPhone, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Sony is also building what the Journal calls “a portable device that blurs distinctions among a netbook, an e-reader and a PlayStation Portable, or PSP,” presumably to take on the forthcoming iPad. The gadgets are expected to launch this year.

Word is Sarah Palin's pitching a docudrama about life in Alaska, and now Martha Stewart has announced an eight-episode reality-TV series called Help Me Martha! Martha's show would feature the ex-con and housemaking diva "solving life's most difficult challenges," from "last-minute parties" to "averting wedding disasters." It's not the first time producer Mark Burnett and Stewart have teamed up, but it might be one of the last: The Martha Stewart Show is headed to the Hallmark Channel, and their Apprentice: Martha Stewart collaboration was hardly a ratings star. As for Palin and Burnett, the two are attempting to sell a " Planet Earth-type look" at Alaska to anyone who will take it. The duo has been spotted leaving ABC, CBS, and Fox, and has plans to visit the embattled NBC. So far, no one is biting, but at least Palin is making the most of her trip. The former pol and now traveling TV fixture visited the set of American Idol and stopped by Jay Leno's newly rebooted Tonight Show.

Sarah Palin may kick at Hollywood in every interview she gets, but apparently she wants in on the goodies: Palin and an entourage of 20 visited the Oscar gifting suite and “they were like locusts,” according to one vendor. Another says, “she kind of cleaned the place out,” grabbing items like United Hair care products, jewelry from Pascal Mouawad, Skagen watches, and 40 pairs of AIAIAI earphones. She was supposed to donate $1,700 and all of her gift items to the Red Cross, but E! Online says “we can assure you she did not give up any of her swag.”

Let’s hope they don’t move to New York: A Haitian family lived through the devastating earthquake there only to experience the same earth-rattling in their new home in Chile. The Desarmes were in Port-au-Prince January 12 when the massive quake leveled much of the city, killing some 230,000. The family took refuge from the Haitian chaos two weeks later, joining their eldest son just south of Santiago. Just over a month later, one of the most powerful quakes ever recorded shook Chile. Fortunately, the entire Desarmes family survived both incidents, but they’re so shaken they now sleep outside in the garden. "My God, I left my country and I didn't die, but I'm going to die here!" Seraphin Philomene, a cousin, 21, said. The son, Pierre Desarmes, who is the lead singer of a popular reggaeton band, used contacts at the Chilean embassy in the Haitian capital to get his family out. "When the aftershocks come, they refuse to stay in the house," Desarmes said. "I have to talk to them all day long telling them: `There are no problems, it's a country that's prepared for earthquakes, it'll pass, it's not so bad.' But they don't hear me. Psychologically for them, they're still really affected by it."

It may be a lot smaller than the $174 billion package it passed in December, but it will have to do for now: The House passed a $15 billion jobs bill Thursday on a 217-201 vote. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had to first quell revolts on both wings of her party—the left wing thought the bill was too small, while the Blue Dogs demanded pay-as-you-go rules, which Pelosi gave them. Because of that small change, the bill will have to go back to the Senate before it lands on President Obama’s desk.

Neil Patrick Harris will have the lead role in the upcoming Smurfs: The Movie. The How I Met Your Mother star won’t be tinted blue, unfortunately; his role is live-action. Director Raja Gosnell brought classic cartoon Scooby-Doo to the big screen. Filming begins in April.

An unexpected ally in the fight for financial reform: Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit endorsed strong regulatory reforms before Congress on Thursday, including the creation of a strong consumer-protection agency. "A key lesson of the financial crisis is that what starts as an issue that affects consumers can become an issue for the entire financial system,” Pandit said. “Recent experience reinforces the truism that what is best for consumers is also best for the financial system and the economy. I strongly believe that consumer protection can and should be strengthened at the federal regulatory level.” He also wants a “systemic regulator with an overall view of the financial system and the ability to impose enhanced capital requirements,” and to give this body the power to break apart banks that are too big to fail. Perhaps most surprisingly, Pandit apparently endorsed the Volcker rule: “Banks should operate as banks, focused completely on serving their clients.”

Guess some American politicians are still holding grudges from the Revolutionary War. After winning the Democratic primary in Texas’s 22nd Congressional District, Kesha Rogers said, “I am leading a war against the British Empire. I’m not worried about what Democratic Party hacks say or do.” In her victory announcement, Rogers went on to say that “President Obama must go,” due to his “dismantling of the manned space program, his efforts to ram through a fascist, killer ‘health-care’ policy, his endless bailouts for Wall Street swindlers, while demanding budget cuts which will increase the death rates among the poor, the sick, the elderly, and the unemployed.” According to The Washington Independent, Rogers' attacks on Obama are influenced by the Lyndon LaRouche “cult,” but the irony is that Rogers herself is being packaged as an “Obama campaign lookalike.” The Independent points out Rogers’ site sports the white Gotham font on blue logo—identical to that of the Obama campaign.

Twelve people were killed and 22 wounded by an explosion near an empty polling station in Baghdad as police and others qualified to vote early take part in Iraq’s second national election for a full-term parliament. Reports conflicted over whether the cause was a roadside bomb or a rocket. The election poses a major test of Iraq’s security forces, but the Pentagon said Wednesday that conditions there would have to be “extraordinarily dire” for the U.S. to reconsider the plan to pull all 96,000 combat troops out by August, and all forces out by the end of the year. Tight security measures are in place, and foreign oil firms are watching the proceedings closely as they begin to invest in Iraq’s oil fields.

After a while you get used to certain things: one of them is Barbara Walters cajoling the nominees on an Oscar night pre-show. This year will be her last. She began interviewing the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Warren Beatty in 1981. Now 80, Walters told The New York Times, “I just feel, ‘Been there, done that.'" About that Beatty, he was no fun. "Warren Beatty was the worst," Walters said. She was most charmed by Lauren Bacall, George Clooney, and Anthony Hopkins. This year's guests include Sandra Bullock and Mo'Nique.

From the department of "no one was supposed to see this" comes the Republican National Committee's internal pitch to its fundraisers. A PowerPoint presentation, obtained by Politico, makes it clear that the committee's strategy for raising money this election cycle will be fear-mongering. The committee says its campaign should focus on a promise to "save the country from trending toward socialism." Helpful advice included is that wealthy "ego-driven" donors can be seduced by offers of access and, what they termed "tchochkes." Another gem from the presentation is the page headed "The Evil Empire." On it, President Obama is made to look like the Joker from Batman, Nancy Pelosi is depicted as Cruella DeVille, and Harry Reid as Scooby-Doo. RNC Chairman Michael Steele's office has already distanced itself from the pitch. "Obviously, the chairman disagrees with the language and finds the use of such imagery to be unacceptable," committee communications director Doug Heye told Politico.

The Obama administration is strongly backing the so-called Volcker Rule, which limits the size of financial institutions and prevents commercial banks from making high-risk trades, as Congress continues to debate financial reform. The Senate is debating a consumer-protection agency, and Republicans say they could reach a deal with Democrats within the week. With the 2008 financial crisis in mind, many wish to see the end of banks that are “too big to fail.” The plan, named for adviser Paul Volcker, would restrict the banks to holdings no greater than 10 percent of the whole financial industry’s liabilities. The White House, waiting until markets closed Wednesday to release details of its plan, weighed in at a critical time during senate negotiations, ruffling some feathers. "It is not helpful to the process for the administration to be putting out positions right now on financial regs, especially as it relates to the Volcker rule," Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) said.

It may not be the best recipe for a successful marriage, but Mo'Nique says it works. She and her husband, Sidney Hicks, have an open marriage, though she claims she has never cheated on him. "Could Sid have sex outside of his marriage with me? Yes," she told Barbara Walters for her 29th annual, and last, Oscars special. "That's not a deal-breaker. That's not something that would make us say, 'Pack your things and let's end the marriage.'" Telling Walters more than she might have wanted to know, the Oscar nominee also added that Hicks loves her famously unshaved legs. "I tried shaving one time," Mo'Nique said, "And it was so uncomfortable and painful. I said never again would I do that to myself."

Southern Taiwan was shaken by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake Thursday morning that damaged buildings and a few major bridges. No deaths or injuries were reported. The epicenter was in a mountainous region about 25 miles northwest of Taitung, on the southeast coast, and 40 miles east of Tainan and Kaohsiung on the southwest coast. It was the second natural disaster to hit the region in seven months, after Typhoon Morakot killed hundreds of people in August with two feet of rain and deadly mudslides. Meanwhile, Chile was briefly on alert this afternoon when it was hit by a 5.9-magnitude aftershock, four days after its latest major earthquake. But no injuries or damage were reported and there is no tsunami warning in effect.

Starbucks is caught in the crossfire of a debate, of all things, on gun control. Ever since it denied a request from gun-control activists to ban guns from all of its coffee shops, it has been fielding questions and issuing statements on the matter, refusing to budge. Now, Starbucks says that these groups are simply using the Starbucks brand to give themselves more visibility. "As the public debate continues, we are asking all interested parties to refrain from putting Starbucks or our partners [employees] into the middle of this divisive issue," Starbucks said in a statement Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, activists are still pushing the company with petitions and running into further opposition from pro-gun groups.

With one New York governor fighting a losing battle against political scandals, it’s time to revisit an old one. Eliot Spitzer’s senior adviser and old friend, Lloyd Constantine, is publishing his book next Tuesday on the Spitzer governorship, Journal of the Plague Year—the first look inside since Spitzer resigned two years ago. Constantine, who no longer appears to be on speaking terms with Spitzer, tells the story of a temperamental man whose life quickly spun out of control in his final days in office. At one time, Constantine says, with Spitzer weeping to him on the phone, he worried about the governor committing suicide. At another, he even suggested Spitzer enter sexual rehabilitation as a means of clinging to the governorship. But Spitzer is already dismissing the book’s legitimacy. “What Mr. Constantine has written is little more than a self-serving and largely inaccurate interpretation of events mixed with unfounded speculation,” he said in a statement.

Sarah Palin could be yet again reinventing herself to reap the benefits of her 15 months of fame. After sportscaster, governor, vice-presidential candidate, pundit, and public speaker, she may be trying her hand as a television producer. Entertainment Weekly is reporting that she and reality-TV show producer Mark Burnett have been holding meetings with network executives to pitch a docudrama about Alaska and The Live Feed says the Palin family would appear on-camera. One source described the potential show a “ Planet Earth-type look” at the state she once ran.

President Obama urged Congress Wednesday that it was time to "finish its work" on health care and suggested that he was in favor of using reconciliation, the controversial legislative maneuver which would avoid a Republican filibuster in the Senate, to do it. The Republicans are likely to respond with weeks of legislative jujitsu of their own to slow the bill down. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she will follow Obama's lead. "The president's announcement is a call to action," she said Wednesday. "We will now move forward." Pelosi has a difficult task ahead of her, figuring out a way to get conservative and progressive Democrats to agree on what's in the Senate bill.

The Wall Street Journal profiles the working habits and aspirations of one of Silicon Valley's most-watched men in Thursday's paper: 25-year-old Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. One of the games he likes to play is to imagine what he would do if he had $1 trillion dollars to work with. He says he is in no hurry to turn his social networking behemoth into a public company. Don’t expect much praise, if you work for him. But do expect movie quotes: Zuckerberg is particularly fond of Troy, which he screened for employees once. He even delivered a gong to the office so workers could announce new developments with added authority.

Would the Gipper look good on the $50 dollar bill? Fourteen Republicans in Congress say that its time to dump Civil War general and 18th president Ulysses S. Grant from the note and replace him with Ronald Reagan. "One decade into the 21st century, it's time to honor the last great president of the 20th and give President Reagan a place beside Presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy," Rep. Patrick McHenry, a Republican from North Carolina who is leading the money change effort, said in statement Wednesday. In past, Reagan fans have tried to get the 40th president on the $20 note and the dime.

Lee Sachs, a close adviser to Tim Geithner at the Treasury Department, announced his plans to leave the public sector "in the next couple of months." The move signals a shift in the Obama administration's focus as it moves out of a period focused on emergency economic response, according to Bloomberg. Sachs was a managing director at Bear Stearns before he was brought aboard by Geithner. Sachs and Geithner do triathlons together. Sachs says Geithner is fast.

Are you one of the Dalai Lama's more than 100,000 Twitter follows yet? His Holiness has been using the social networking site since he arrived in Los Angeles last week. According to The Times of London, the Tibetan leader is the "most senior world religious leader" to take to the 140-character messaging site. In a move that may not bode well for his karma, the Dalai Lama has yet to follow anyone. You can find him here.

Let the counterfactuals begin: Karl Rove says in his new memoir that President Bush would not have invaded Iraq, had he known that there were no WMDs. “Would the Iraq War have occurred without W.M.D.? I doubt it,” he writes. “Congress was very unlikely to have supported the use-of-force resolution without the W.M.D. threat. The Bush administration itself would probably have sought other ways to constrain Saddam, bring about regime change, and deal with Iraq’s horrendous human rights violations.” Rove strongly rejects, however, charges that Bush lied, and otherwise is an adamant defender of the administration. Rove says he was responsible for the “weak response” to charges that Bush lied. Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight will publish on Tuesday.

Republican California State Senator Roy Ashburn was arrested for driving drunk on Wednesday—and now sources tell local news that he was on his way home from a gay club. Ashburn, of course, has a history of opposing gay rights. The father of four was said to be visiting Faces, which calls itself “Sacramento’s premier GLBTI Nightclub since 1985.” "I am deeply sorry for my actions and offer no excuse for my poor judgment," Ashburn said in a statement about the DUI. "I accept complete responsibility for my conduct and am prepared to accept the consequences for what I did."

The military-industrial complex in action: The Republican National Committee, fresh off a spate of bad press after the leak of an internal memo encouraging fundraisers to capitalize on “fears” of President Obama, will host an event in April at a compound owned by the company formerly known as Blackwater. The RNC will gather its “Young Eagles”—major donors under 40—at the U.S. Training Center in Moyock, North Carolina. The facility calls itself the nation’s “premier weapons and tactics training facility.”