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Texas Senate defies Perry by voting to take stimulus money for jobless fund – In a sharp rebuff of Gov. Rick Perry, the Senate on Thursday tentatively voted to accept $555 million in unemployment aid from the federal economic stimulus plan.

Perry Secession Talk Anti-American, Democrats Say – In a state that once was its own nation, a Republican governor who talked about secession without completely dismissing the idea has Democratic lawmakers in an uproar.

Rasmussen Texas Secession Poll: 75% Of Texans Say No

The Methods List for Interrogation – One of the legal opinions authorizing various methods of interrogation, in exceptional detail.

Citi records first profit in six quarters – The US bank said on Friday it made a net profit of $1.6bn compared with a net loss of $5.1bn a year earlier, marking its highest earnings since the second quarter of 2007.

Congressional Oversight Panel: Fire Managers, Liquidating Banks – A congressional panel overseeing the U.S. financial rescue suggested that getting rid of top executives and liquidating problem banks may be a better way to solve the economic crisis. (Panel’s 6 Month Report)

Patriot Games – [Talking Points Memo] started tracking yesterday the emerging meme that Obama’s restructuring of the defense budget amounts to being weak on defense. It’s an important early framing of the debate, driven by Republicans, and all too often adopted by media who should know better.

Biden rebukes Cheney, guarantees we’re ’safer today’ – Vice President Joe Biden brushed aside recent criticism by predecessor Dick Cheney that moves by the Obama administration had put the United States at risk, telling CNN on Tuesday that the former vice president was “dead wrong.”

Poll: Obama Approval Hits New High – 66%

Hints of Obama’s Strategy in a Telling 8 Days – In eight days in Europe, President Obama has started down the road to remaking the global financial system, reinvigorating the NATO commitment to Afghanistan and Pakistan, rewriting nuclear policy, and repairing relations with the Muslim world.