A gaffetastic new Miss USA  —  She nearly tripped over her gown.  —  She called birth control a “controlled substance.”  —  She argued that contraceptives should be covered by health insurers because they are “expensive” — and then said you could get them for “free” from your OB/GYN's office.

The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment  —  In 2003, several prominent Jewish philanthropists hired Republican pollster Frank Luntz to explain why American Jewish college students were not more vigorously rebutting campus criticism of Israel.  In response, he unwittingly produced …

Specter-Sestak Dem Primary Down To The Wire, Quinnipiac University Pennsylvania Poll Finds; Onorato Leads Dem Governor Primary  —  The Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary goes down to the wire with U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak taking 42 percent of likely primary voters to Sen. Arlen Specter's 41 percent …

Court: Sexually Dangerous Can Be Kept in Prison  —  Supreme Court says federal officials can indefinitely hold sexually dangerous prisoners  —  The Supreme Court ruled Monday that federal officials can indefinitely hold inmates considered “sexually dangerous” after their prison terms are complete.

Obama doesn't take questions at Freedom of Press Act signing  —  Obama declined to answer questions at bill signing for the Freedom of Press Act.  —  Washington (CNN) - After the signing of the Freedom of Press Act on Monday, President Obama declined to take any questions from the press.

Too Far?  Family Guy's Vietnam Veterans Memorial ‘Joke’  —  It's not a secret that Family Guy is famous for its offensiveness and tendency to cross the politically correct line.  That said, I suspect they may be called upon to issue some sort of apology after tonight's episode (not that they will …

Interior official who oversees offshore drilling for MMS resigns  —  The top Interior Department official who oversees offshore oil and gas drilling for the Minerals Management Service will retire on May 31, The Washington Post has learned.  —  Chris Oynes, who oversaw oil and gas leasing …

Uranium Offer by Iran May Hinder Efforts on Sanctions  —  CAIRO — Iran announced an agreement on Monday to ship some of its nuclear fuel to Turkey in a deal that could offer a short-term solution to its nuclear standoff with the West, or prove to be a tactic aimed at derailing efforts to bring new sanctions against Tehran.

GINGRICH, MEET GODWIN.... It was the latest in a series of reminders that this is nothing — literally, nothing — that a far-right media personality can say to be driven from polite American society.  —  Disgraced former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), inexplicably one of the nation's …

Andrew Breitbart's empire of bluster.  —  On Sunday, March 21st, the day that the House voted to pass health-care reform, Andrew Breitbart, the conservative Internet entrepreneur, was thousands of miles away, at home in Westwood, a neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Big Ten Conference likely seeking universities that fit its identity in expansion talks  —  By Bill Glauber of the Journal Sentinel  —  It was an exciting time in college sports, an era of great change and large dreams.  —  Faculty delegates from the big conference of the Midwest gathered …

Class Warfare: Hundreds Protest Outside Bankers' Houses In DC  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Huge raucous crowds converged outside bank employees' houses on Sunday afternoon to demand banks stop lobbying against Wall Street reform.  —  “Bank of America: bad for America!” …

Going to Extreme  —  Utah Republicans have denied Robert Bennett, a very conservative three-term senator, a place on the ballot, because he's not conservative enough.  In Maine, party activists have pushed through a platform calling for, among other things, abolishing both the Federal Reserve and the Department of Education.

Why Does Academia Treat Its Workforce So Badly?  —  A piece on adjuncts in Inside Higher Ed has been attracting a lot of attention among academics of my acquaintance.  Its description of academic life is shockingly brutal—shocking even to me, who knows enough PhDs to be acquainted with the dismal facts:

Answer the lesbian question, Ms Legal Eagle  —  The nominee to be the next justice of the Supreme Court has no opinion on anything.  Well, that's not entirely true.  She did believe in providing free coffee for students when she was dean of Harvard Law School.

Today's orders and opinions  —  The Court issued four opinions today, including two in the long-awaited cases about juvenile imprisonment without parole, Graham and Sullivan v. Florida.  The rulings are:  —  In United States v. Comstock (08-1224), in an opinion by Justice Breyer …

Who is Michael Posner, and why is he apologizing to China?  —  Actually, I phrased the title question wrong.  —  Question: Who the hell is Michael Posner, and why the hell is he apologizing to China?!  —  Answer: Michael Posner is the former head agitator at the transnationalist Human Rights First …

The amazing campaign ads of Alabama  —  Alabama Republicans have, for reasons that I don't understand but which I hope a reader will explain, produced a raft of strange and memorable television ads this cycle: Young Boozer's broadside; ‘This is Alabama.  We speak English’; the scornful attack on an accused evolutionist.

Pawlenty vetoes gay-rights bill  —  Gov. Tim Pawlenty vetoed a bill Saturday that would have given same-sex partners the right to decide what to do with the body of their loved ones, should they die.  —  Pawlenty had said he would veto the bill, calling it unnecessary because partners can draw up a living will.