A proposal before the Securities and Exchange Commission that would require public companies to disclose political contributions has drawn some favorable comments from investors, but it won’t go a long way in meeting the demands of those advocating for more transparency in political fundraising.

A group of 10 law professors filed a formal petition asking the commission to require corporations to list political contributions in annual proxy statements sent to shareholders. The professors cite a growing interest among shareholders for disclosure of political contributions.

Sarah Palin is back on in Iowa and Christine O’Donnell has been disinvited (again), Allen West thinks Michele Bachmann made an “incredible faux pas,” and Jim DeMint has weighed in on Wisconsin.

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On Aug. 12, 2003, a Gulfstream IV aircraft carrying six passengers took off from Dulles International Airport and flew to Bangkok with fueling stops in Cold Bay, Alaska, and Osaka, Japan.

Before it returned four days later, the plane also touched down in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates and Ireland. As these unusual flights happened, U.S. officials took custody of an Indonesian terrorist, Riduan Isamuddin, who had been captured in Thailand and would spend the next three years being shuttled among secret prisons operated by the CIA.

The 2012 presidential primary calendar is about to gel.

This Saturday is the deadline for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) to decide whether to move up her state’s primary to January. That decision represents what could be the first shoe to drop in another “front-loading” of the primary calendar that could include contests right after the New Year or even in December 2011.

But Arizona isn’t the only state threatening to crash the presidential party. In fact, there’s plenty of reason to believe some other states could advance their primaries as well.

Gen. David H. Petraeus warned at a pomp-filled retirement ceremony on Wednesday that the nation’s leaders, faced with tough budget decisions, should be careful not to cut the military’s budget too deeply in the years ahead.

The vast majority of the hour-long ceremony at Fort Myer in Arlington celebrated Petraeus’s 37 years of military service and his six years of leading troops in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003. Military bands played, medals were awarded, and Petraeus issued a long list of thanks to his mentors, his peers and the troops who fought under his command.