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 …

Pirates hijack U.S. ship off Somalia  —  20 American crew members are held on a ship carrying relief aid.  The last pirate attack of an American vessel by African pirates was reported in 1804.  —  Reporting from Nairobi, Kenya — A U.S.-flagged cargo ship that routinely works under contract …

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.

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 …

NEO NAZIS LINK UP WITH CHARLES JOHNSON, LITTLE GREEN FOOTBALLS SMEARS BECK, THE GOP AND CONSERVATVES  —  New alliances abound in the new world order.  The libelblogger CJ has a new sandbox.  —  Canadian neo-Nazis excoriate Jews, root for the Taliban, link to Little Green Footballs Jihad Watch

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 …

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.”

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.

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 …

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.