House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) turns 70 today, and even the Republican National Committee is celebrating. Sort of.

The GOP group wrote a special poem for the Speaker, and even made up a not-so-nice card. Check them out:

Congratulations, you pushed it through,
Gamed the process and the CBO too!

But in response, your approval still wanes,
And now your title, Republicans claim.

Just hope that the voters don't remember
When they vote this upcoming November-

That Rahm, Harry, Barack - and you, Nancy
Passed this bill without transparency!

And covered up ethics scandals and more
From Rangel to Massa, and his tickle wars.

For kickbacks and gimmicks, budgets un-clipped
We give you this special Birthday pink slip.

Privacy concerns shouldn’t hinder the rapid deployment of full-body scanners at American airports, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Thursday. Critics of the machines have said they amount to a technological strip-search.

Napolitano insisted that her department does take privacy concerns “into account.” The Transportation Security Administration officer reading the image is now separated from the person being scanned, Napolitano said. “And I can confirm, no, the [scanning] machines do not see everything.”
 
She said the machines would be able to prevent the kind of attack organized on Christmas Day last year, when a Nigerian man wearing explosives in his underwear was able to board a Detroit-bound flight in Amsterdam.
 
The scanning machines "are an objective improvement in our ability to detect the kind of explosive used in the Christmas Day attack as well as other dangerous powders, liquids and gels that would not set off a medal detector,” she said. “And that is why we are accelerating their deployment to our domestic airports.”

President Barack Obama on Thursday perused, but did not buy, copies of newly released books by two of his biggest critics: former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) and former White House political adviser Karl Rove.

He also offered to buy a Star Wars pop-up book for Gibbs' six-year-old son, Ethan, that Gibbs was holding in the checkout line. "It's a little expensive, sir,” warned Gibbs. (The children's book cost $37.44.)

Obama didn't mind the price tag:  “It’s for keeping his dad away for too many hours a day."

Gibbs quipped, "I need more books than that, sir."

But while the Obama girls will get souvenirs from Iowa, First Lady Michelle Obama is not so lucky.

“Nothing for Mrs. Obama?” asked a journalist as the president left the shop.

Obama paused, “Thanks for getting me in trouble,” the president joked.

For the second time in less than a month, an audience member appears to have fainted at President Barack Obama's speech in Iowa City, Iowa Thursday afternoon.

Approximately five minutes into his remarks about healthcare, Obama paused, "Oops, it looks like somebody fainted may have fainted," he said, gesturing into the crowd to his right.

"That happens sometimes in the crowd, just give him some space. If the medics can make sure to check on them, in the meantime just make sure that they’ve got some air," the president said.  "And if anybody has some water down there, that’d be great.  They’ll be all right."

Obama then continued with his speech. No word yet on who the fainting spell victim was.

Another supporter passed out on March 15 during Obama's speech in Ohio.

This kind of fainting is known as parade ground syncope, and it occurs when a person has been standing for a long period in hot temperatures.

The speech was held indoors at the University of Iowa, and the president took off his jacket before addressing the crowd.

According to a White House registration form which listed the arrival time for spectators as 11 a.m., the crowd had been in place for more than two hours when the president began his remarks.

A man suspected of hacking the official Twitter account of President Barack Obama was arrested by French police Tuesday then released Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reported. 

The suspect, a 25-year-old unemployed Frenchman, was taken into custody as the result of a joint operation with U.S. FBI agents that has lasted for about two months.

The man, who used the pseudonym "Hacker Croll," was able to access Obama's account on the microblogging site. The account was established and is primarily used by the Democratic National Committee. The president has rarely, if ever, posted on the account himself.

The hacker, who attacked the Twitter accounts of several U.S. celebrities, had also attacked Facebook pages and e-mail accounts operated by Google and other providers, the police said, but he had never attempted to profit financially from his hacking activities.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) wants a billiards table for her 70th birthday on Friday.

She made the unexpected birthday wish at the tail end of a press conference on Thursday, telling reporters, "You know what I want for my birthday? I want a pool table. I've always wanted a pool table. I've wanted to get better at it." 

Walking back to her office, Pelosi said she doesn't think she's going to get her birthday wish. "I think I'm going to get a stove or a kitchen, and that's ok, [but] I want a pool table," she said with a wide smile.

She explained that her grandchildren are getting quite good at pool, and praised the virtues of pool tables that morph into ping pong and even dining room tables.

"There are all kinds of possibilities!"  she said.

No word yet on where Pelosi might keep a new pool/ping pong/dining room table, but probably not in her centrally located office in the Capitol.

And while a new kitchen might sound much more expensive than a pool table, at the high end of the market they're more evenly priced than one might think: Custom-designed professional grade billiards tables can cost north of $150,000. 

H/T: Jared Allen

Mid-way through a full evening of voting on amendments to the Senate's healthcare reconciliation bill, Democratic senators fueled up by munching on lobster rolls in the Democratic cloakroom — a delivery from Legal Seafood in honor of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.).

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and a former top Kennedy aide, said he did not know who was responsible for the delivery but that it was done as a tribute to Kennedy. The late senator died in August from brain cancer, and had championed healthcare reform as "the cause of my life."

Senators also sometimes napped when off the floor, but Manley said most ducked out to their hideaway offices near the Senate floor instead of using cots in the cloakroom.

The "Capitol Hill's Angels" congressional basketball team fell to the Georgetown Law School professor "Hoya Lawyas" on Wednesday night by a score of 49-42 in the 23rd annual Home Court Game to benefit the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. But it wasn't for lack of trying.

The ten-man lawmakers' team had a 28-18 lead at halftime, but the Lawyas had a secret weapon: President Barack Obama's personal aide, Reggie Love, a former Duke basketball star. Love's arrival late in the first half was a surprise to the congressmen, but as soon as the 6 foot 5 inch forward brought out his A-game, the momentum shifted to the Lawyas and the points quickly followed.

Coached by Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.), the Hill's Angels were made up of Reps. Gene Green (D-Texas), Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Joe Baca (D-Calif.), John Boccieri (D-Ohio), Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.), Andre Carson (D-Ind.), Michael Arcuri (D-N.Y.) Frank Kratovil (D-Md.), Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.) and Mervyn Jones Jr., the son of late Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio).