SPB News for Wednesday.

Sean Penn may star in film about Valerie Plame

Did Prescott Bush steal Geronimo's skull? CNN probes

Palin to repay state for kids' travel

IRAQ WITHDRAW DEADLINE: AUGUST 2010

On 'subpoena day', Rove instead raked in cash for GOP

In lawsuit, McCain claims he wasn't aware RNC ad 'existed'

Terror Convictions Overturned in France A French appeals court on Tuesday overturned terrorist conspiracy convictions for five former inmates of the Guantánamo Bay prison camp who had been tried and convicted in 2007, after they were returned to France. The court ruled that information gathered by French intelligence officials in interrogations at Guantánamo Bay violated French rules for permissible evidence, and that there was no other proof of wrongdoing.

Soldier doubts eligibility, defies president's orders --'As an officer, my sworn oath to support and defend our Constitution requires this' A U.S. soldier on active duty in Iraq has called President Obama an "impostor" in a statement in which he affirmed plans to join as plaintiff in a challenge to Obama's eligibility to be commander in chief. "As an active-duty officer in the United States Army, I have grave concerns about the constitutional eligibility of Barack Hussein Obama to hold the office of president of the United States," wrote Scott Easterling in a "to-whom-it-may-concern" letter.

Judge questions law giving telecoms immunity A federal judge in San Francisco is raising questions about the constitutionality of a law designed to dismiss suits against telecommunications companies accused of cooperating with government wiretapping. Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker has asked President Obama's Justice Department to present its views by Wednesday on whether the law gives the attorney general too much power to decide whether a company is immune from lawsuits. Obama supported the measure as a senator when Congress approved it last year.

U.S. Pressed to Add Billions to Bailouts The government faced mounting pressure on Monday to put billions more in some of the nation’s biggest banks, two of the biggest automakers and the biggest insurance company, despite the billions it has already committed to rescuing them... The Obama administration confirmed it was in discussions to aid Citigroup, the recipient of $45 billion so far, that could raise the government’s stake in the banking company to as much as 40 percent.

Banking on the Brink By Paul Krugman The real question is why the Obama administration keeps coming up with proposals that sound like possible alternatives to nationalization, but turn out to involve huge handouts to bank stockholders. For example, the administration initially floated the idea of offering banks guarantees against losses on troubled assets. This would have been a great deal for bank stockholders, not so much for the rest of us: heads they win, tails taxpayers lose. Now the administration is talking about a "public-private partnership" to buy troubled assets from the banks, with the government lending money to private investors for that purpose. This would offer investors a one-way bet: if the assets rise in price, investors win; if they fall substantially, investors walk away and leave the government holding the bag. Again, heads they win, tails we lose.

Officials: Most troops out of Iraq in 18 months — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama plans to remove all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by August 2010, administration officials said Tuesday, ending the war three months later …

Obama Claim: Done More in 30 Days Than Other Presidents

WBAL-TV fires reporter over prank — John Sanders inserted a graphic phrase in a faked video that ended up on YouTube — WBAL-TV has fired a reporter who inserted a graphic phrase in a video for a prank — only to have the doctored version surface on Web sites nationwide.

STATEMENT FROM RUPERT MURDOCH — As the Chairman of the New York Post, I am ultimately responsible for what is printed in its pages. The buck stops with me. — Last week, we made a mistake. We ran a cartoon that offended many people. Today I want to personally apologize to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted.