Tony Perkins urges conservatives to stop giving money to RNC  —  Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council and an influential social conservative, is urging his members to stop giving money to the Republican National Committee, POLITICO has learned.  —  “I've hinted at this before …

Like LL Cool J, Toby Keith was unaware of his inclusion in Sarah Palin's show  —  Like LL Cool J, Toby Keith is slated to appear on “Real American Stories,” a Fox News show hosted by Sarah Palin.  Unlike LL Cool J, Keith is still slated to be on the program, but his inclusion was news to him.

Dem congressman: If Guam gets too overpopulated, it might tip over  —  Via Weasel Zippers, a clip that's destined to be viral by tomorrow morning.  Even so, go easy on him.  Yes, he was an Iraq defeatist, and granted, he demagogued Joe Wilson's outburst in the scummiest way imaginable …

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.

Federal Judge Finds N.S.A. Wiretapping Program Illegal  —  WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program was illegal, rejecting the Obama administration's effort to keep shrouded in secrecy one of the most disputed …

Republicans Move Ahead in 2010 Vote for Congress  —  Hold 47% to 44% advantage in registered voters' preferences  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Registered voters now say they prefer the Republican to the Democratic candidate in their district by 47% to 44% in the midterm congressional elections …

How Is the Stimulus Money Allocated?  — By: Veronique de Rugy  —  Unemployment isn't a factor, but politics is.  Your stimulus dollars at work.  —  Using recipient report data from Recovery.gov, as well as economic and political data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau …

Secretary of the Army Says He Will Not Pursue 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Discharges  —  WASHINGTON — The secretary of the Army, John M. McHugh, said Wednesday that he was effectively ignoring the “don't ask, don't tell” law because he had no intention of pursuing discharges of active-duty service members …

How to fix CNN  —  “What we understood from the get-go was that by focusing on opinion, analysis and using topic-area expertise to draw conclusions, we could easily differentiate ourselves from CNN, that was so wedded to just regurgitating the facts,” Goldin said.

Administration seeks to change pay incentives at major firms  —  When the Obama administration imposed restrictions on executive pay last year at some of the largest companies the government had bailed out, officials said they were aiming to set a new standard for compensation across corporate America …

Obama tries triangulation lite  —  Just days after Republicans fumed that passage of the health care bill tolled the death knell for bipartisanship, there was a very different message coming from some GOP quarters Wednesday: praise for President Barack Obama's decision to lift the ban on some offshore oil drilling.

The Affordable Care act is not a “mandate.”  It's government paying for your private insurance when your employer doesn't.  —  My post on why the ACA will become popular was too long and confusing.  Shorter me:  —  The phrase “individual mandate,” though it explained to wonks …

State of the Art: David Pogue's Review of the iPad  —  In 10 years of reviewing tech products for The New York Times, I've never seen a product as polarizing as Apple's iPad, which arrives in stores on Saturday.  —  “This device is laughably absurd,” goes a typical remark on a tech blog's comments board.

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 …

Successes (and Some Growing Pains) at Hulu  —  Hulu, the popular and free online video hub, has some things to celebrate as it heads into its third year.  —  The site, a venture of NBC Universal, the News Corporation and the Walt Disney Company, has been profitable for two quarters …

When Military Moves a War, There Are No Shortcuts  —  JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq — Early this year a “fob in a box” — military slang for 80 shipping containers with all the tents, showers and construction material needed to set up a remote forward operating base — was put on trucks here for the trip from one war to another.

Iran Sanctions Are Failing.  What's Next?  —  We will soon be left with a stark alternative: Either Iran gets a nuclear weapon and we manage the risk, or someone acts to eliminate the threat.  —  Has the U.S. abandoned plans to target the Iranian regime's access to banking and credit and to isolate Iranian air and shipping transport?

Michelle Obama Blooms in the White House  —  Back in the White House Garden, The First Lady's Popularity is Already Growing by the Bushel  —  (CBS) The White House garden has done quite well in weathering the wild winter.  —  The garden has produced 50 pounds of produce before the tulips even came up.

Taxes per Person  —  Some pundits, reflecting on the looming U.S. budget deficits, claim that Americans are vastly undertaxed compared with other major nations.  I was wondering, to what extent is that true?  —  The most common metric for answering this question is taxes as a percentage of GDP.