BREVITAS

OBAMALAND

Washington Post - President Obama abandoned a proposal to bill veterans' private insurance companies for the treatment at VA hospitals of combat-related injuries amid an outcry over the measure from veterans' service organizations and members of Congress.

The Obama administration has advised federal agencies to release their records and information to the public unless foreseeable harm would result.

Telegraph - While not exactly a film buff, Gordon Brown was touched when Barack Obama gave him a set of 25 classic American movies - including Psycho, starring Anthony Perkins on his recent visit to Washington. Alas, when the PM settled down to begin watching them the other night, he found there was a problem. The films only worked in DVD players made in North America and the words "wrong region" came up on his screen. Although he mournfully had to put the popcorn away, he is unlikely to jeopardize the special relationship - or "special partnership", as we are now supposed to call it - by registering a complaint. . . A White House spokesman sniggered when I put the story to him and he was still looking into the matter when my deadline came last night.

GRAVEYARD OF EMPIRES

Politico - Fifty-one percent of Americans think things in Iraq are going very well or moderately well, up 8 percentage points from last year. But only 38 percent say the same about Afghanistan, down 6 percentage points in just the past month. Forty-two percent of those surveyed now say the United States made a mistake in sending troops to Afghanistan, up from 30 percent earlier this year, while 53 percent say the Iraq war was a mistake, down from 56 percent in January and 60 percent last summer.

URBAN & TRANSPORTATION

WTOP, DC -- It began as a pilot program, but now D.C.'s Smartbike program is pedaling toward a huge expansion. By summer, the D.C. Department of Transportation will have expanded the current Smartbike system from 10 racks to 50 racks. . . The expansion will bring the total number of bikes on the city's streets to around 500. The goal is to get Smartbike running in all eight Wards of the District. . . . D.C.'s Smartbike program now has over 1,000 registered members and more than 10,000 rentals have been paid for. To become a member of Smartbike, users have to pay a $40 annual fee. Renters can take the bikes for three hours at a time and for an unlimited number of trips a day. When the program rode into the District last summer, it was hailed as the first of its kind in North America. The program has a good report card so far -- there have not been any accidents reported and only one bike has been stolen.

JUSTICE & FREEDOM

Huffington Post - Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) reintroduced legislation to abolish the death penalty. [The move] comes just after New Mexico governor Bill Richardson's decision to ban capital punishment in his state. Feingold notes that "In 2007, only China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan executed more people than the United States."

THE MIX

Navy Times - Thirty-eight graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., came out of the closet Monday with an offer to help their alma mater educate future Army leaders on the need to accept and honor the sacrifices of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender troops. . . "We're publicly announcing our sexuality, our orientation," said 1st Lt. Dan Choi, a National Guardsman with the 1st Bn., 69th Infantry, based in Manhattan. "It's just one part of who we are in saying that we are standing to be counted." In forming Knights Out, its 38 members are following the example of similar support and education groups formed by graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Air Force Academy, known respectively as USNA Out and Blue Alliance.

SUSTAIN YOURSELF

ABC News - [In 2009] about 43 million U.S. households intend to grow their own fruits, vegetables, berries, and herbs -- up 19 percent from just last year -- according to data from the National Gardening Association.