RNC “census” mailer offers phone sex number  —  A new entrant in the when-it-rains-it-pours category.  —  The Republican National Committee sent a fundraising mail piece earlier this month with a return number that leads to a phone-sex line offering “live, one-on-one talk with a nasty girl …

Rep. Hank Johnson: Guam could ‘tip over and capsize’  —  Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) is afraid that the U.S. Territory of Guam is going to “tip over and capsize” due to overpopulation.  —  Johnson expressed his worries during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the defense budget Friday.

USA fumes over politics  —  WASHINGTON — Seven months before the midterm elections, Americans seem disaffected about nearly everything political.  —  A majority disapprove of both political parties, their leaders and most members of Congress, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds.

Liberal group march meets pushback  —  A handful of liberal groups - but only a few dozen protesters — marched on the Republican National Committee offices Thursday to denounce the threats against members of Congress during the health care vote.  —  But in an oddly Washington moment …

McCain: GOP hopes to sidestep veto in repeal efforts  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Thursday backed a plan that he says would allow the Republicans to avoid a presidential veto while negating the effects of a new healthcare law.  —  The 2008 GOP presidential nominee backed a plan …

A different kind of company name  —  Early last month the mayor of Topeka, Kansas stunned the world by announcing that his city was changing its name to Google.  We've been wondering ever since how best to honor that moving gesture.  Today we are pleased to announce that as of 1AM …

Apple iPad Review: Laptop Killer?  Pretty Close  —  For the past week or so, I have been testing a sleek, light, silver-and-black tablet computer called an iPad.  After spending hours and hours with it, I believe this beautiful new touch-screen device from Apple has the potential …

Returning the Census is Our Constitutional Duty  —  I'm worried about this year's census.  —  I'm not worried about ACORN rigging the count - we already succeeded in kicking them out of the census.  I'm not worried about the President's attempt to run the census out of the White House - we beat that power grab back last year.

Anarchists Plan War On April 15th Tea Parties  —  WARNING: Be on the lookout-  —  Bring your cameras.  —  Violent anarchists are planning on infilitrating and sabotaging the Tea Party Protests on April 15th.  —  The Jawa Report posted this call to arms from the violent anarchists at Infowars today:

Study Claiming Link Between Stimulus Funding and Partisanship is Manifestly Flawed  —  A study purporting to find a connection between stimulus spending and the partisanship of a district suffers from an obvious flaw.  But in so doing, it provides an example of why it's important to retain …

Investigation Shows Ensign Appealed to Company  —  WASHINGTON — Senator John Ensign sought financial backing for a troubled Nevada energy company in 2008, and at the same time he urged the company to hire his mistress's husband, according to people involved in the matter.

Judge: Bush overstepped wiretapping authority  —  (03-31) 17:51 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge has rejected the Bush administration's justification for warrantless wiretapping of suspected terrorists and ruled that federal agents had eavesdropped illegally on a U.S.-based Islamic charity.

Papal ally accused of ‘ritual beatings’  —  German bishop accused of hitting child with carpet beater at church-run home  —  The child abuse scandal rocking the Catholic Church widened yesterday as a leading German bishop personally appointed by Pope Benedict was accused of ritually beating …

Why political science matters, ‘independents’ edition  —  David Broder thinks “independent voters” are sick of partisanship: … This is actually a great illustration of the uses of political science for political journalists.  Despite Broder's protestations to the contrary, most independents are, in practice, partisans.

The Evangelical “Mainstream” Insanity Behind the Michigan “End Times” Militia  —  A federal prosecutor in Michigan says authorities decided to arrest members of the Hutaree Christian militia after learning “they were prepared to kill.”  —  When I first learned of the news I went …

The Best-Covered News Story, Ever  —  This week's On the Media laments the low quality of press coverage in health care reform.  It's certainly easy to find examples of shoddy journalism and public ignorance to bolster this charge.  Every night, one could watch cable TV screamers trafficking …

Snowe, Collins decline invitation to Obama event  —  Both Maine Senators declined the White House's invitation to attend President Obama's event in their home state today, according to White House spokesman Bill Burton.  —  Burton said the Maine Republicans decided not to attend Obama's healthcare speech in Portland, Maine.

Those Ignorant, Racist Tea-Baggers; Meredith Shakes Her Broomstick  —  Those Ignorant, Racist Tea-Baggers  —  “The collective IQ of Searchlight, Nevada plunged over the weekend as the Tea Party Tart, Sarah Palin, brought her flannel-and-flapjacks followers to Harry Reid's hometown.

Barney Frank directs his staff not to talk to aide-turned-lobbyist  —  Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) on Thursday barred his staff from having any contact with an aide-turned-financial lobbyist.  —  In a statement, the House Financial Services Committee chairman said the normal one-year ban …

The War on Terror-Bush Without the Stetson — By: Victor Davis Hanson  —  There is much to criticize about President Obama on foreign policy, but increasingly, despite all the “reset button” rhetoric and the obligatory nods to the Left, his anti-terrorism policies are becoming near identical extensions …

Economics without mathematics  —  Justin Fox sums up the overwhelming majority of economics papers in one sentence: … What he doesn't (need to) mention is the way that journalists, myself included, read economics papers: we generally have no ability or inclination to try to understand …

Kingston cools rhetoric  —  The day after the U.S. House of Representatives passed an overhaul of the national health care system, U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, R-1, came out swinging against it and pledged to repeal it.  —  But on Wednesday, nine days later, he opted for a softer approach …

Democrat Boxer warns colleagues: Don't take your seats for granted  —  Democratic incumbents must be wary of taking their seats for granted this election cycle, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said Thursday.  —  Boxer, who's facing one of the most competitive election challenges in her own career …

Democratic operative Steve Hildebrand goes rogue  —  On a recent afternoon in his exposed-brick office, Steve Hildebrand coolly explains why his latest target is the woman down the hall.  —  “She voted against health care because she thought it was bad politically,” Hildebrand says …

Exclusive: The new federal menu mandate meets the real world  —  Yesterday, I spent a little time at a local pizzeria to find out more about the impact of the new federal menu mandate in the real world.  Davanni's has 21 locations throughout the Twin Cities, a smaller, local chain …