U.S. and Allies Warn Iran Over Nuclear ‘Deception’  —  PITTSBURGH — President Obama and the leaders of Britain and France accused Iran on Friday of building a secret underground plant to manufacture nuclear fuel, saying the country has hidden the covert operation from international weapons inspectors for years.

NBC News prez blasts ALG: ‘reckless’ and ‘defamatory’ UPDATE  —  NBC News president Steve Capus fired back at Americans for Limited Government Friday, after the conservative group published an email allegedly from NBC producer Jane Stone to its director of media outreach Alex Rosenwald, with one line: “Bite me Jew Boy.”

Kyl: 'I Don't Need Maternity Care.' Stabenow: ‘Your Mom Probably Did’  —  Just before the Senate Finance Committee wrapped up for the long weekend, members debated one of Sen. Jon Kyl's (R-AZ) amendments, which would strike language defining which benefits employers are required to cover.

Ensign receives handwritten confirmation  —  This doesn't happen often enough.  —  Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) received a handwritten note Thursday from Joint Committee on Taxation Chief of Staff Tom Barthold confirming the penalty for failing to pay the up to $1,900 fee for not buying health insurance.

Ladies and gentlemen, your President is a robot.  Or a wax sculpture.  Maybe a cardboard cutout.  All I know is no human being has a photo smile this amazingly consistent.  —  On Wednesday, the Obamas hosted a reception at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, during which they stood …

THE FEDS WHO CRIED ‘WOLF’.... Michael Crowley noted this morning, “It's a little weird that there hasn't been more alarm surrounding the apparently major Denver-based terror plot busted up by the feds in the past few days.  Last night, ABC News reported that authorities believe Najibullah Zazi's …

Embattled pollster defends methods  —  The American Assocation for Public Opinion Research, the blogger Nate Silver, and others have raised a serious of questions about Strategic Vision, a polling firm that occasional draws attention for early polls in lightly-polled, competitive state races.

Mr. Kirk goes to Washington  —  By Joseph Williams and Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff  —  WASHINGTON — Paul G. Kirk Jr. was sworn in this afternoon to start his four-month stint as junior senator from Massachusetts, stepping into a high-profile role while trying to leave the controversy over his appointment behind.

tiredofit  —  So what if it would take 2 weeks to put it on the net, what is the big rush?  Obama promised that EVERY bill would be posted on the net 3-5 days before it was voted on so people would have time to read it.  What happened to that promise?  Put the bill on the net so people …

Drudge's Easy Libel of the Military  —  Earlier today I noted that Drudge's link to the use of LRADs as “acoustic weapons” was over the top, which he would have easily recognized on his own if he had simply applied logic to the very video he linked.  Put simply, if an LRAD is being used as a weapon …

Americans Tilt Against Sending More Troops to Afghanistan  —  Most who oppose also advocate that the U.S. begin to withdraw troops  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans are more likely to say they would oppose (50%) rather than favor (41%) a possible decision by President Barack Obama to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

As Seen On TV!  Birthermercial Asks, Where Was Obama Really Born?  —  A new birther infomercial running on a CBS affiliate in Texas and elsewhere around the country tells viewers a “got a birth certificate?” bumper sticker can be theirs for the low price of $30.

Translator collapsed during Khadafy's rambling diatribe  —  After struggling to turn Khadafy's insane ramblings at the UN into English for 75 minutes, the Libyan dictator's personal interpreter got lost in translation.  —  “I just can't take it any more,” Khadafy's interpreter shouted into the live microphone - in Arabic.

Reid blocks ACORN probe  —  Tracking abuse by political allies could be ‘distracting’  —  ACORN — the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now — is stinking up Washington.  —  And this is far more significant than if a suspiciously large number of operatives for a purely …

Bill Clinton Explains Why He's Now For Marriage Equality  —  Anderson Cooper has the scoop.  Amazingly, no one has asked him so directly before:

Top Republican pulls out of intelligence investigation  —  The top Republican on the Senate intelligence committee has pulled out of the panel's bipartisan review of Bush-era terrorist interrogation techniques, saying Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.'s criminal investigation into the CIA undermines …

Response to AT&T's letter to FCC on Google Voice  —  This afternoon AT&T filed a letter with the Federal Communications Commission, alleging that Google Voice is preventing its users from making outbound calls to certain phone numbers with inflated access charges, and asking the Commission to intervene.

Sources: Emanuel wanted Claypool to be placeholder  —  Plan to keep House seat warm may have included Cabinet consideration  —  It has long been claimed that Rahm Emanuel wanted to find someone to keep his congressional seat warm while he served as President Obama's chief of staff.

Where's the GOP health care alternative?  —  House Democrats are marking today as the 100-day anniversary of House Republicans promising to produce their own alternative health reform bill as part of their larger effort to shed the Party of No label.  —  “I guarantee you we will provide you with a bill …

Pakistan discovers ‘village’ of white German alQaeda insurgents  —  Investigators have discovered a “Jihadi village” of white German al-Qaeda insurgents, including Muslim converts, in Pakistan's tribal areas close to the Afghan border.  —  By Dean Nelson in New Delhi and Allan Hall in Berlin