The Washington Post, reeling from a takedown in The New Republic last week, has a peerless front page today — and reveals the real, terrorist, dangers of botox.

The Post isn't the only lumbering DC machine fighting back — it appears as if the Obama administration is aggressively pushing his amended agenda. The NYT and LAT seem to have been briefed on his State of the Union remarks. And the other exclusive Post story, on his decision-making process, has the hallmarks of tacit approval too.

Other tings dat gwan:

  • A health insurer in New York seems to be trying to maximize its profit by penalizing hospitals, and therefore patients.
  • Such machinations are probably why a doctor in Mississippi has looked to Iran for a better healthcare model.
  • And the Wall Street Journal look at the economic impact of Tigers Woods' departure from the PGA tour.

Disclosure: I freelance write and report for newspapers that are included in this roundup. Where there is a direct conflict of interest I will make it clear.

The New York Times: say Obama is narrowing his agenda, offering aid to families in his State of the Union address on Wednesday, but that the GOP are widening their search for seats in the midterm elections. Talking of battles, a health insurer is trying to chisel hospitals in New York out of money, Mario Cuomo is courting the black vote for his potential run for governor and an Indian reservation finds itself caught up in Mexico's drug wars. And there's a nice sort-of-retrospective of the damage in Haiti.

The Washington Post: leads with news that federal mortgage support is being scaled back. But they've got a great exclusive story across the page about Chechnyan botox labs, and the hazards they might pose if they decide to get out of cosmetics and into supplying terrorists. It's worth noting that this is a big, expensive, international investigation and a slight poke in the eye for the paper's detractors in the wake of Gabriel Sherman's takedown last week. It's matched with nice look inside Obama's decision-making and a feature on a new service that lets you store all your passwords in the cloud, to be revealed to your loved ones upon your death. There's a nice Haiti piece too. Now if only they could make their website better than utterly sucky...

The LA Times: takes a look at Obama's change of direction, and the tea party movement. The Governator is targeting organized labor in his last year in office, Haiti is still messed up and Iran has better medical care than Mississippi.

The Wall Street Journal: has a look at the battle for Bernanke, the lost battle for Stuy Town and the economic impact of Tiger Woods' departure from the PGA Tour. The feature is about bureaucracy over food bags.

The New York Post: has a slight twist on the Jets' loss last night — a fan was tased afterwards. Injury to insult, etc.

The Daily News: also lead with the Jets.

Bakersfield Californian: Cat death in California!

Publico (Portugal): Nice picture, Publico.