Electricity Grid in U.S. Penetrated By Spies  —  Robert Moran monitors an electric grid in Dallas.  Such infrastructure grids across the country are vulnerable to cyberattacks.  —  WASHINGTON — Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs …

Bow-ow-ow: Obama's painful missteps  —  Let the new president grow into the job — but he'd better do it fast!  Plus: Readers ask about everything from talk radio, morality and Mary McCarthy, to that big movie about a sinking ship.  —  Dear Camille,  —  In your column, you say …

What happened in Minnesota  —  Minnesota's excruciatingly close Senate election between incumbent Republican Norm Coleman and former unfunny humorist Al Franken is in the final innings of the post-election proceedings.  Franken is of course a left-liberal Democrat about whom I have nothing good to say.

U.S. to Offer Aid to Life Insurers  —  Firms Face Capital Crunch; How Much They Will Get From TARP Remains Unclear  —  The Treasury Department has decided to extend bailout funds to a number of struggling life-insurance companies, helping an industry that is a lynchpin of the U.S. financial system …

About Glenn Beck's Extremist Rhetoric  —  Michael A. Cohen has a piece in Politico today about the over-the-top irresponsible extremism and conspiracy theories promulgated by weeping Glenn Beck: Extremist rhetoric won't rebuild GOP. … He's right.  This turn toward the extreme right …

Gates: Why I Kept Troubled Ship, Swimming Vehicle  —  Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he only killed weapons programs in his reboot of the Pentagon's arsenal if the project's “budget was out of control, or they were overdue, or the technology was too great a risk.”

Gay marriage: Iowans weigh pros and cons of altering Iowa Constitution  —  If Iowans choose to open the hood on the Iowa Constitution, it could invite all sorts of tinkering, law professors and state lawmakers said today.  —  Voters soon have a once-a-decade chance to step around lawmakers and update the Constitution on their own.

CBC members praise Castro  —  Key members of the Congressional Black Caucus are calling for an end to U.S. prohibition on travel to Cuba, just hours after a meeting with former Cuban president Fidel Castro in Havana.  —  “The fifty-year embargo just hasn't worked,” CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee …

Feminism as Natalism  —  Michelle Goldberg wades into the debate I've been having with various people about the macroeconomic implications of population decline with an observation I definitely agree with: … I actually agree with both of the points here.

Support for Gun-Control Laws at All-Time Lows  —  Americans evenly divided at 49% on need for stricter gun laws  — USA - Crime - Government and Politics - Guns - Personal Safety - Violence - Americas - Northern America  —  PRINCETON, NJ — In Gallup polling conducted prior …

Palin plans to assist Murkowski campaign in 2010  —  FUNDRAISING: Governor tries to end speculation that she aspires to senator's seat.  —  scockerham@adn.com  —  JUNEAU — Gov. Sarah Palin plans to raise money for the re-election campaign of Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski …

ACORN, HuffPo Organizing Efforts to Infiltrate Tax Day Tea Parties  —  FNC's Cavuto says efforts underway to make protests appear as ‘fringe-group efforts’ and in some cases as ‘racist undertakings.’  —  Business & Media Institute  —  Acts of protest tend to be synonymous with the left …

Caller criticizes Limbaugh, Hannity, etal, on torture: “It's like you're all brainwashed”  —  LIMBAUGH: We're going to go to Chicago.  This is Charles.  Charles, thank you for waiting and for calling.  Great to have you here.  Hello.  —  CALLER: Thanks, Rush.

“I am under a lot of pressure to not diagnose PTSD”  —  A secret recording reveals the Army may be pushing its medical staff not to diagnose post-traumatic stress disorder.  The Army and Senate have ignored the implications. … Listen to a segment of the recording of an Army psychologist at Fort Carson …

Quigley claims victory in race to replace Rahm Emanuel  —  Democratic Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley claimed victory tonight in the 5th District race to replace Rahm Emanuel in Congress.  —  With 94 percent of the Chicago and suburban Cook precincts reporting totals …

Biden to Shepherd Test Ban Treaty Vote  —  Events of 1999 Attest to Task's Difficulty  —  President Obama is planning to put Vice President Biden in charge of what is expected to be the difficult job of getting the Senate to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, administration sources said.

Ethics board launches probe into Rep Jesse Jackson Jr.  —  A congressional ethics board has launched a preliminary inquiry into U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill), related to President Obama's vacant Senate seat and the corruption investigation of ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

Harvard Student Takes On Barney Frank Over Economy  —  WFXT-TV: It all started with a question: “How much responsibility, if any, do you have for the financial crisis?”  Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and a conservative Harvard law student debated over how Frank should have handled his role …

Not even trying anymore  —  Little Lord Fop-leroy, Michael Gerson, is just phoning it in now: … Naturally, this is ALL Obama's fault.  It is not the responsibility of fair-minded Republicans like Mitch McConnell or John Boehner crying leathery tears of old fashioned bipartisanship …