SPB News for Monday.

Obama: I'm An Optimist -- But Not A Sap

In an interview with National Journal, President Obama said he is open to reaching across the aisle, but policy results matter. "My bottom line is not how pretty the process was," he said. "My bottom line was: Am I getting help to people who need it?" He also added: "I am an eternal optimist [but] that doesn't mean I'm a sap."

Hillary leaves for Asia on first trip

Hopes to heal relationship with North Korea, discuss nuclear issue.

'Lieberman weakens Israel's cause in US'

George W. Bush is Fundraising Personally for His Library

Foreign Office link to torture cover-up The Foreign Office (FCO) solicited the letter from the US State Department that forced British judges to block the disclosure of CIA files documenting the torture of a British resident held in Guantánamo Bay, the Observer can reveal. The letter said that the release of papers relating to Binyam Mohamed would damage future intelligence sharing between the two countries. A former senior State Department official said that it was the Foreign Office that initiated the "cover-up" by asking the State Department to send the letter so that it could be introduced into the court proceedings.

Police have evidence of money laundering against Lieberman Police have amassed sufficient evidence to link Israel Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman with money laundering charges, a former National Fraud Unit investigator told The Jerusalem Post Thursday, citing a senior police source. Police suspect Lieberman used Cypriot bank accounts registered to his daughter's name for money laundering purposes, and possibly to also carry out fraud and bribery offenses.

Fed indictments tell how H-1B visas were used to undercut wages Federal agents on Thursday said they arrested 11 people in six states in a crackdown on H-1B visa fraud and unsealed documents that detail how the visa process was used to undercut the salaries of U.S. workers. Federal authorities allege that in some cases, H-1B workers were paid the prevailing wages of low-cost regions and not necessarily the higher salaries paid in the locations where they worked. By doing this, the companies were "displacing qualified American workers and violating prevailing wage laws," said federal authorities in a statement announcing the indictments.

Axelrod: Cheney 'didn't get the memo'

A Torture Report Could Spell Big Trouble For Bush Lawyers — From the magazine issue dated Feb 23, 2009 — An internal Justice Department report on the conduct of senior lawyers who approved waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics is causing anxiety among former Bush administration officials.

Last week's poll has asked:

Baseball player Alex Rodriguez denies that he tested positive for two anabolic steroids in 2003. Do you believe Rodriguez is telling the truth?
Majority of readers answered no. New poll is now up.