The majority of the baseball world had deemed the Washington Nationals the odds-on favorite to land first baseman Prince Fielder , the kind of free agent slugger who could transform them from a team on the rise to a contender that had arrived. And then Tuesday afternoon came, and the Detroit Tigers made a stealth bid, one the Nationals had no intention of approaching. Read full article > >

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Prince Fielder chooses Detroit Tigers over Washington Nationals

REYKJAVIK, Iceland — In a small, borrowed office a block from where he once led Iceland , Geir Haarde skips the small talk and gets right to the point. “This is not the kind of situation I want to be in,” says the 60-year-old former prime minister, dressed in a tidy gray suit and blue tie. “I am getting famous for all the wrong reasons.” Read full article > >

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Geir Haarde, Iceland’s ousted leader, awaits trial over role in financial crisis

But before he does, Lucas has one last mission. He wants to prove that with “Red Tails,” he can still make the kind of movie everyone in the world will want to see.

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George Lucas Is Ready to Roll the Credits

For a young company, Constellation Theatre sure can feel old. Its current offering, a revival of George Bernard Shaw’s “Arms and the Man,” is the kind of unremarkable production you’d expect to encounter in the repertory of a fussy little troupe in some provincial outpost where the pastor’s bored wife needs a pastime. Read full article > >

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Constellation’s curious choice, ‘Arms and the Man’

In a Silver Spring living room, on a Friday afternoon, in the kind of damp, chilly weather that really calls for a good book, three women are plotting. One of these women is Valerie Tripp. “I really think we want to say that it’s as okay for boys to be into design or dance” as they are into bugs or bicycles, she says. “No interest or passion is the sole property of any one person or gender.” Read full article > >

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‘American Girl’ author creating series for boys

Last month, The Post’s Vanessa Williams wrote a story about what Yale University professor Elijah Anderson calls a “cosmopolitan canopy,” a space where diverse groups of people mingle comfortably. We asked readers where in our region they experience this kind of diversity; following here and on Page C3 are a few of their responses. Read full article > >

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Destinations in the Washington area’s ‘cosmopolitan canopy’

Leading Republican strategists say that if he is serious about a presidential race in 2012, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is running out of time to build the kind of national campaign and fundraising organization he will need. But, they added, the tough-talking governor immediately would become a top-tier candidate with a real chance of winning the GOP nomination. Read full article > >

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For Chris Christie, a big opening but challenges await

The Federal Reserve’s latest push to revive the economy this week had a key aim: Drive low mortgage rates even lower to strengthen the ailing housing market and help cash-strapped borrowers get out from under higher-interest loans. But that attempt to throw a lifeline to struggling homeowners faces a stark reality: Despite historically low interest rates, the very people most in need of the kind of relief that could come from refinancing their homes have found it difficult to qualify. Read full article > >

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Fed drive to lower mortgage rates may fall short

Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor and former Obama administration official, announced Wednesday morning via Web video that she will challenge Republican Sen. Scott Brown for his seat in Massachusetts. Warren began her first day of campaigning at a subway stop in South Boston — an area filled with the kind of conservative Democrats that Warren, a 62-year-old Oklahoma native,must win over. Read full article > >

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Elizabeth Warren announces bid for Senate seat in Massachusetts

He was built to climb, and yet he strode upright. His arms hung low like an orangutan’s. Yet with his long thumbs and curved fingers he could grasp sticks and rocks like a man. His brain was not much larger than a chimpanzee’s. Yet his widened pelvis implied his kind gave birth to children with much bigger brains. Read full article > >

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Possible human relative, 2 million years old, a ‘snapshot of evolution in action’

5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe. Whether it's dreams of opening their very own bakery, being the next 'Top Chef' or simply wanting to brush up on their knife skills, a growing number of the food-obsessed continue to flock toward culinary school – some straight out of high school, some swapping out their suits for chefs' whites midlife in hopes of a more savory lifestyle. But for some like Anthony Goncalves, a culinary degree isn't the end-all, be-all. Goncalves is the completely self-taught executive chef of 42 The Restaurant . And when we say self-taught, we should also note he's been named as “one to watch” by both Time and Esquire Magazines. Five Reasons You Can Learn to Cook Without Going to Culinary School: Anthony Goncalves 1. Humans start eating from the day you are born “Innately – like being born with an ear for music or an eye for design – you can be born with an inclination for flavors and how to combine them. While this ability is stronger in those who become cooks, we all have taste . It’s a question of trusting your taste which no amount of schooling can teach you.” 2. What is delicious can’t be taught “It is subjective, no matter what food critics would have you believe . While culinary school can teach you presentation and technique, the first thing to learn is how to make something taste good and that is, at its essence, very basic.” 3. Technique takes practice “No matter where you learn it – a cooking class, reading recipes in a food magazine, watching The Cooking Channel – you have to hone it to make it a skill that you can rely on.” 4. Passion definitely can’t be taught “Wanting to be a chef and being passionate about cooking, even if it’s just for your family, can be mutually exclusive – and there is nothing wrong with that. Most people will tell you they’d rather have a lovingly prepared home-cooked meal than any other kind. Learning to be the kind of restaurant chef who treats your customers that way is not a skill taught in school.” 5. Culinary students are used to putting in long hours … “But running a restaurant is a 24 hour-per-day, 7-day-per-week, lifelong endeavor. There is no getting around that. And no externship or stage can teach you that. That’s something you learn the day you open the doors of your restaurant – and keep learning as long as you are in business.” Is there someone you'd like to see in the hot seat? Let us know in the comments below and if we agree, we'll do our best to chase 'em down.

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5@5 – Why you can learn to cook without culinary school

The debate on Thursday was marked by the kind of pandering to party dogma that disgusts many voters.

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The Caucus: Debate Showed Why Americans Hate Government

30 Rock producer Tina Fey and NBC have both issued apologies for Tracy Morgan’s homophobic standup routine in Nashville. NBC’s entertainment chief called Morgan’s act “reckless” and said the network has “made it clear to him that this kind of thing…

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Tina Fey on Tracy Morgan’s Rant

The debate over the efforts to analyze Sarah Palin’s e-mails erupted on Friday with the kind of partisan ferocity that tends to accompany anything related to the former governor.

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Critics Fume Over Intensity of News Coverage for Palin’s Messages

NORTH CONWAY, N.H. — Toeing the 2012 line, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman sounded like a full-fledged White House candidate Saturday set to join the field this month as he mapped out a campaign strategy that bypasses early-voting Iowa to focus on New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida. In an Associated Press interview during a visit to New Hampshire’s rural North Country, Huntsman said his party’s nomination race has “never been this wide open.” The unsettled nature, he said, benefits the kind of campaign he’s preparing to undertake. Read full article > >

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AP Interview: Huntsman’s not yet in 2012 White House race, but he’s mapping campaign strategy