The Curious Case Of Hayley Williams  —  WeinerGate has hit, and I do use this term advisedly, the decadent phase, where people are just trying to outclever each other with outre and novel theories of the case.  Even among conservatives, or those who initially doubted Rep. Weiner's bizarre story …

Palin: Timing of New Hampshire visit ‘coincidental’  —  Boston (CNN) - Sarah Palin said Thursday her decision to appear in New Hampshire on the very same day Mitt Romney is announcing his 2012 presidential campaign there is purely a coincidence, not meant to step on the former Massachusetts governor's big day.

Making the hostage strategy explicit  —  President Obama met with several leading congressional Republicans yesterday to discuss budget cuts and the debt ceiling, and not surprisingly, there wasn't much in the way of progress.  GOP leaders postured; Obama pressed for compromise; and by the end …

Abramson to Replace Keller as The Times's Executive Editor  —  Jill Abramson, a former investigative reporter and Washington bureau chief for The New York Times, will become the paper's executive editor, succeeding Bill Keller, who is stepping down to become a full-time writer for the paper.

Christie refuses to reimburse N.J. for traveling by helicopter to see son's baseball game  —  TRENTON — Facing broad criticism for flying by helicopter to watch his son's high school baseball game in Bergen County, Gov. Chris Christie refused today to refund the state for Tuesday's $2,500-an-hour flight.

Employment Data May Be the Key to the President's Job  —  WASHINGTON — No American president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has won a second term in office when the unemployment rate on Election Day topped 7.2 percent.  —  Seventeen months before the next election, it is increasingly clear …

Listen up, fellas: Naked man-parts?  Not so sexy.  —  A general note for men:  —  Over the weekend, it was revealed that Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), or someone pretending to be Weiner, allegedly sent a photo of his bulging briefs to one of his Twitter followers.

Ensuring your information is safe online  —  The Internet has been an amazing force for good in the world—opening up communications, boosting economic growth and promoting free expression.  But like all technologies, it can also be used for bad things.  Today, despite the efforts …

Why Barack Obama may be heading for electoral disaster in 2012  —  On a recent visit to London I was struck by how much faith many British politicians, journalists and political advisers have in Barack Obama being re-elected in 2012.  In the aftermath of the hugely successful Special Forces operation …

America on the march: Left, right  —  Using questions from Pew Research Center surveys conducted in 1987, 1994, 2002 and 2009 that offered facsimiles of those used by Free and Cantril, we were able to demonstrate that these attitudes persist to this day.  Across the four surveys …

Global war on drugs has ‘failed’ say former leaders  —  Opiate use increased by 35% worldwide from 1998-2008, in spite of anti-drug efforts  —  The global war on drugs has “failed” according to a new report by group of politicians and former world leaders.

Exclusive: Glenn Beck's Last Day On Fox News Will Be June 30th  —  Mediaite has learned that Glenn Beck's last day on Fox News is currently scheduled to be June 30th.  Fox News has confirmed this information to Mediaite.  —  In the past month, ratings for Beck's ratings saw a double digit decline …

GOP blocks Obama land grab  —  Map via Frank Jacobs, Strange Maps blog/Big Think  —  Yes, dear readers, corruptocrat Interior Secretary Ken Salazar can be stopped.  —  Since day one of the Obama administration, I've chronicled Loathsome Cowboy Ken Salazar's War on the West, War on Jobs, and War on Science/Rule of Law.

Exclusive: Pelosi Says Democrats Have ‘Very Good Chance’ to Win Back the House in 2012  —  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told ABC News in an exclusive interview that Democrats “have a very good chance of winning the House” majority in the 2012 elections, pointing to Medicare as the key issue …

Discovery of ‘worms from hell’ deep beneath Earth's surface raises new questions  —  For the first time, scientists have found complex, multi-celled creatures living a mile and more below the planet's surface — raising new possibilities about both the spread of life on Earth and potential subsurface life on other planets and moons.

The Influence Industry: The fine lines between a Palin vacation and Palin tour  —  When most families go on a summer vacation, they don't have a political-action committee to pay the bills.  —  Not so for Sarah Palin, the former vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor …

Chinese teen sells his kidney for an iPad 2  —  A Chinese teenager was so desperate to acquire the new iPad 2 that he sold one of his kidneys for just £2,000 to pay for it, according to reports.  —  The iPad2  —  The 17-year-old boy, identified only by his surname, “Zheng” …

New ad dings Obama on Israel  —  The Emergency Committee for Israel, a conservative pro-Israel group, is up with a new ad — celebrating Democrats who support Israel.  Here it is:  —  The point of the ad is hard to miss: There is strong bipartisan consensus in support of Israel …