Cheat Sheet

Citing “monumental negligence” by the Army Corps of Engineers, a federal judge ruled the U.S. government must pay damages to New Orleans residents whose homes were flooded after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The judge offered a “scathing critique” of the Corps’ maintenance of a shipping channel called the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, which was widened at the cost of protective wetlands that could have slowed Katrina’s storm surge. (The Corps had said it was immune from liability and had properly maintained the channel.) Four people and a business were awarded $720,000.

Data from the U.S. Army indicate that a surge in Afghanistan of 30,000 to 40,000 troops would mean the deployment of nearly every available brigade, leaving the Army underprepared to react to an emergency situation. As of December 2009, according to the Army, there will be slightly more than 50,000 active-duty soldiers in 14 brigades, plus around 24,000 National Guard soldiers; according to former Pentagon official Lawrence Korb, the scarcity of available troops makes an escalation of 30,000 to 40,000—the number recommended by Afghanistan commander Stanley McChrystal—"not realistic." Some 22,600 troops will see the end of the "dwell time" at home at the beginning of 2010, while around 10,200 leave Afghanistan, meaning that the president could have an additional 12,400 troops at his disposal. Additional problems include the category of brigade available—five of the 14 available brigades are "heavy" brigades that rely on heavy equipment that doesn’t work well in mountainous Afghanistan.

Though lacking a theme song by the Who, federal investigators are performing autopsies on failed banks and lenders across the U.S. These "coroners of the financial crisis"—so dubbed by The New York Times—are finding that regulators often acted too late in their attempts to prevent risky business deals, despite knowing about the practices early on. These financial coroner's reports, called material loss reviews, look at the factors that led to the lenders' demises, and as they are made public, their findings could influence policy as government officials discuss tightening regulations on loans by limiting, for example, the percentage of balance sheets than can consist of real-estate loans. Either way, the reviews cast a damning picture of regulators' ability to rein in risk-happy lenders. "We all could have done a better job," said Sheila Bair, chairwoman of the FDIC.

Texas may have become the largest singles meet in the nation—without anyone realizing it. Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Democratic candidate for attorney general, says that a clause in the 2005 constitutional amendment banning gay marriage may have, in fact, banned all marriage. Subsection of B of the amendment reads, "this state or political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage," the wording of which, Radnofsky argues, "eliminates marriage in Texas." Current Attorney General Greg Abbott's spokesman said that the amendment is "entirely constitutional," and Radnofsky admits that it's unlikely that marriages will be disassembled based on the clause. But she still believes the wording is a "huge mistake." "Whoever vetted the language in B must have been asleep at the wheel," she said.

In a bizarre riff on the 2008 election seasons, Ukraine is being flooded with former consultants from the Clinton, McCain, and Obama campaigns as its presidential race moves closer to the finish line. While some of incumbent Victor Yuschenko's advisers, including Mark Penn (formerly Hillary Clinton's chief strategist) and Paul Manafort (once a McCain consultant), are longtime veterans of the overseas election-consulting business, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has enlisted the help of a relative newcomer: media consulting firm AKPD, founded by top Obama aide David Axelrod. Since his campaign's November win, AKPD and other Obama campaign advisers have been consulting in elections in Argentina, Bulgaria, Romania, Israel, and Britain as candidates there hope to gain something from a connection to Obama. For political consultants, the pay overseas is generally higher, and a loss is less damaging to a firm's reputation.

In the Royal Rumble that is the primary race for the Republican Senate nomination in Connecticut, contender Linda McMahon is taking some "cheap heat" from former wrestling personality Superstar Billy Graham, who appeared in the ring with World Wrestling Entertainment, which is owned by McMahon's husband, Vince. Graham, a charismatic heel (or bad guy) from the 1970s and '80s, says he is "bitter to the core" after being left with no pension and no health care from his years wrestling for the company that made McMahon rich, and is doing everything he can to block McMahon's bid. Furious about both his lack of post-wrestling support from the WWE and what he sees as the sanitization of wrestling—including less-frequent bleeding in the ring, a ban on female wrestlers posing in Playboy, and an end to "lingerie matches" between female wrestlers—Graham intends to remind Connecticut voters of McMahon's connection to the industry, even as she avoids mention of it in her campaign materials. The company and her campaign have denounced Graham as "disgruntled" and "bitter," a charge to which Graham responds by saying, "I am disgruntled. I am bitter."

AP Photo; Newscom

The end of the world as we know it? In an interview with Newsmax, Palin says that she’d consider Glenn Beck as a running mate if she ran for president in 2012. "I can envision a couple of different combinations, if ever I were to be in a position to really even seriously consider running for anything in the future, and I'm not there yet," Palin says. "But Glenn Beck I have great respect for. He's a hoot. He gets his message across in such a clever way. And he's so bold—I have to respect that. He calls it like he sees it, and he's very, very, very effective."

Is Will Ferrell no longer a big deal? The actor, who once brought in big bucks with the comedies Elf and Talladega Nights, is now considered the most overpaid actor in the industry, according to a new study released by Forbes magazine. The magazine tabulated its list by examining the economic profile of 100 major actors—it looked at the movies they starred in within the past five years and weighed the production budgets of those films against how much each film made, based on its box-office performance, DVD sales, and additional arrangements like television deals. The calculated difference was compared to what movie stars made on each film, the Hollywood Reporter explained. Ferrell, who starred in last summer’s dud Land of the Lost, only banked $3.29 for each dollar he received. For every dollar that Shia LaBeouf earned, meanwhile, studios got $160, for films like Transformers and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Other overpaid actors include Ewan McGregor—$3.75 per dollar for films like Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith—Billy Bob Thornton, Jim Carrey, and Eddie Murphy.

Pier Paolo Cito / AP Photo

During his Wednesday appeal hearing, the 22-year-old man convicted of murdering Meredith Kercher in 2008 says he did not kill or rape the 21-year-old British student and that he saw Seattle student Amanda Knox fleeing the murder scene as Kercher lay bloody and dying. Rudy Guede, whose testimony comes two days before the murder trial of Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, is scheduled to resume in Perugia, Italy, also told the court that he overheard the two women shouting and Kercher scream while he was in the shower. "I went into the corridor and looking out of the window saw going away the outline of Amanda Knox. I didn't know what had happened, a few minutes earlier everything had been calm and then this had happened," said Guede. Guede's feces and blood were found at the murder scene but his attorneys have asked that witnesses and evidence be re-examined in the appeal, particularly the towels Guede allegedly used to try to stop Kercher from bleeding. The prosecutor told the judge that reexamination is "a waste of time." Guede is currently serving a 30-year sentence outside of Rome.

Sarah Palin is supposed to unite the conservative base, but is she causing a schism at Fox News? The Wrap reports that Bill O’Reilly threw a “hissyfit” when he learned that Sean Hannity’s interview with Palin would air before his. Hannity’s interview is set to air on Wednesday night, while O’Reilly’s three-part interview will air on Thursday, Friday, and Monday. O’Reilly’s show is Fox’s top-rated program, while Hannity’s show is third.

Evan Agostini / AP

Martha Stewart may have been down, but she's far from out. "I was hurt, and I was sad, but I was never, never broken," Stewart tells Nightline in her first television interview since serving five months in prison for perjury and insider trading in 2004. Stewart's lifestyle business is at a crucial point of growth, reports ABC News, and after multimillion dollar losses during and since her stint in the big house, the famous homemaker is readying a bounce back, largely through the development of craft supplies, which she says are a $32 billion business. Always frank and success-driven, Stewart's in-depth interview covers everything from Rachael Ray, whom she dismisses as an "entertainer," to her defense of powerful women like Hillary Clinton (and herself, of course). "I don't think Hillary... is a broken woman, and I don't think I was a broken woman," Stewart said. "I did what I had to do. And came back right into a company that had not failed."

For when you finish Going Rogue: Simon & Schuster imprint Threshold Editions has announced that former White House aide Karl Rove's new memoir will be entitled Courage and Consequence and will be released March 9, 2010. Threshold, known for its lineup of conservative political authors including Glenn Beck, Mark Levin,and Dick Cheney, says that Rove's tell-all "frankly responds to critics, passionately articulates his political philosophy and openly explains the reasons behind his decisions in campaigns and the White House." Rove is not the only former member of the Bush administration with plans to release a memoir. George W. Bush, Laura Bush, and Donald Rumsfeld will all release memoirs in 2010. Courage and Consequence has been in the works since at least 2007, and USA Today reported that Rove received over $1.5 million for the deal.

AP Photo

No Navy SEALS required this time: The Maersk Alabama—the U.S. ship whose captain was freed from Somali pirates after a dramatic rescue attempt in April—was attacked a second time by Somali pirates on Wednesday. Guards on board the ship repelled the assailants with gunfire. A spokesman for the E.U. Naval Forces said that the second attack was “pure chance.”

Candy Crowley has covered eight presidential elections but she’s still the subject of a lot of banter about her weight, and recently, her weight loss. “It's stunning to me that something I consider so separate and apart from what I do for a living has taken up so much space in some people's thoughts," Crowley told the Los Angeles Times. But as rumors swirled, the CNN reporter stepped forward to deny she had a face-lift, Lap-Band, or gastric bypass surgery. According to Crowley, her weight loss and overall healthier appearance is due to dieting, exercising, and Transcendental Meditation. "I'm lighter now in a lot of ways," said Crowley, who has been at CNN since 1987.

No need to sweeten the deal here: Hershey Co. is lining up billions of dollars to launch a rival bid to Kraft’s $16 billion offer for candy maker Cadbury. Hershey may team up with a partner like Ferrero SpA, the Italian maker of Tic-Tacs, Nutella, and Ferrero Rocher chocolates. According to The Wall Street Journal, Hershey has talked to Bank of America and J.P. Morgan about financing the deal, and the banks have been receptive.

AP Photo

Bad news for polar bears: The Senate has delayed taking up climate-change legislation until “some time in the spring,” according to Majority Leader Harry Reid. It will first tackle job creation and financial regulation—signs that the body is reluctant to address the environment at a time of economic uncertainty. The White House, meanwhile, encouraged lawmakers to move as quickly as possible. It is moving ahead with plans to have the EPA declare greenhouse gases a danger to public health, which could trigger regulation.

Did a driver cut off Vice President Joe Biden's motorcade en route to his taping for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart? That's what one witness is claiming after two cars collided at 49th Street and 10th Avenue in New York City. Biden was being escorted by an entourage of police escorts and security detail when an unmarked cab reportedly cut through the motorcade. Three people were injured, including two members of Biden's team, though initial reports indicate the injuries are minor. The vice president was not harmed. This is the third injury accident involving Biden's team in the last week.

A lot has changed in the last 56 years and 320 days since West Virginia Sen. Robert C. Byrd first took office. On Wednesday he became the longest-serving lawmaker in congressional history, breaking a record previously held by Carl Hayden of Arizona, who served in the House and then the Senate from 1912 to 1969. Byrd, who turns 92 next week, has been in office long enough to rescind his opposition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act and repeatedly voice his regret about joining the Ku Klux Klan an eternity ago. Setting records isn't new to the Democratic senator. Since June 12, 2006, he's been the longest-serving senator and later that year he was elected to what the Associated Press called an "unprecedented ninth term." In addition to having been elected to more leadership positions than any senator in history, Byrd has cast more than 18,000 votes over the years and boasts an average attendance record of 98 percent, despite his currently poor health.

A small cache of powerboats owned by Bernard Madoff and his associates fetched almost $2 million for victims of the $65 billion Ponzi scheme during an auction in Florida on Tuesday afternoon. The boats—named Bull, Little Bull, and Sitting Bull—sold for a combined total of $751,000, including a well-above-book bid of $700,000 for Bull, a 55-foot 1969 Rybovich Sportfish. A 1999 Mercedes Benz CLK 320 convertible with 12,827 miles on the odometer, previously owned by Ruth Madoff, sold for $30,000, while bidders paid $950,000 for a 61-foot 2003 Viking sport-fishing yacht owned by Madoff-associated Frank DiPascali. All 70 bidders, the crowd driven in part by Madoff's notoriety, paid an upfront registration fee of $100,000 to participate in the yacht auction.

Have room for another Obama book on your shelf? Little, Brown is betting that you do. The publisher has signed New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor to a seven-figure book deal to write about the Obamas. Recently, Kantor wrote a New York Times Magazine cover story on the Obama’s marriage, which said “the Obamas mix politics and romance in a way that no first couple quite have before.” It’s unclear whether Kantor will have the Obamas’ cooperation. During the campaign, she reported for the Times on Obama’s past.