U.S. Calls Radiation ‘Extremely High’ and Urges Deeper Caution in Japan  —  WASHINGTON — The chairman of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission gave a significantly bleaker appraisal of the threat posed by Japan's nuclear crisis than the Japanese government, saying on Wednesday …

Clinton says no to second term  —  (CNN) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told CNN's Wolf Blitzer she does not want to serve a second term as secretary of state or run for president of the United States.  —  Blitzer sat down with the former 2008 presidential candidate in Cairo.  —  Full transcript:

Sarah Palin losing more ground among Republicans, Post-ABC poll finds  —  Virginia Postic/ AP - According to a new poll, fewer than six in 10 Republicans and GOP-leaning independents see former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, shown here in December, in a favorable light.

Some in GOP grow tired of right wing  —  Some veteran Republican House members are pushing back against conservative deficit hawks who are pushing for endlessly deep spending cuts, saying the right wing of the party is creating unnecessary divisions for the GOP majority.

Obama flaunts openness award … No comments yet.  Be the first!

Four New York Times Journalists Are Missing in Libya  —  The New York Times said Wednesday that four of its journalists reporting on the conflict in Libya were missing.  —  Editors at the paper said they were last in contact with the journalists on Tuesday morning New York time.

Miami-Dade voters fire Mayor Carlos Alvarez over pay hikes, tax increase  —  Miami-Dade recall election draws strong voter turnout  —  Related Content  —  If voters recall Mayor Carlos Alvarez, would you vote to re-elect him?  —  WHAT'S NEXT?  —  • The Miami-Dade County Canvassing …

Stuff White People Like: Republicans  —  A good series of charts by Lee Drutman shows that one of the best predictors of declining Democratic partisan ID between 2008 and 2010 is the number of white people:  —  I used to hold to the view that the growing non-white share of the electorate would, over time, tip elections to Democrats.

Last Defense at Troubled Reactors: 50 Japanese Workers  —  A small crew of technicians, braving radiation and fire, became the only people remaining at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station on Tuesday — and perhaps Japan's last chance of preventing a broader nuclear catastrophe.

It's Not Too Late to Save Libya  —  Defense Secretary Robert Gates has acted as if imposing a no-fly zone would be a military operation on the order of D-Day.  In reality, it wouldn't be hard to ground Gadhafi's decrepit air force.  —  I have not been one of those castigating President Obama …

Reel China: Hollywood tries to stay on China's good side  —  Without Beijing even uttering a critical word, MGM is changing the villains in its ‘Red Dawn’ remake from Chinese to North Korean.  It's all about maintaining access to the Asian superpower's lucrative box office.

‘Sagging pants’ bill passes House committee  —  Seems the best way to sell legislation these days is that it'll be good for the economy.  That's how Rep. Hazelle Rogers (D-Lauderhill) pitched her so-called “sagging pants” bill to members of the House's K-20 education innovation subcommittee today.

Petraeus accused of ‘Charlie Sheen strategy’ on Afghanistan war  —  Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) on Wednesday sharply criticized David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and signaled agreement with an assessment from a Rolling Stone editor who likened the commander's performance to that of Charlie Sheen.

GOP 2012: Return of the neo-cons  —  When George W. Bush left office in 2009, liberal Democrats and a fair number of moderate, traditional Republicans proclaimed the good news: the GOP neo-cons were dead, chased from Washington in disgrace.  —  But as Republican presidential hopefuls begin …

Abortion Foes in Congress Run Into Tax Obstacle in Attempt to Curb Funding  —  House Republicans' efforts to limit government funding for abortion are colliding with their emphasis on tax cuts, underscoring potential conflicts between the party's social and fiscal agendas.

National Lampoon chief arrested in alleged $200-million Ponzi scheme  —  The chief executive officer of National Lampoon Inc., the comedy brand behind “Animal House” and the “Vacation” movie franchise, was arrested early Wednesday in West Hollywood in connection with an alleged $200-million Ponzi scheme, federal authorities said.

The Indecisive Midwest  —  Jon Chait watches the polls sway back and forth around the Great Lakes: … There's no question that this is right.  Nor is there any question that some measure of “overreach,” first by congressional Democrats and then by state-level Republicans, is driving this.

Massive online pedophile ring busted by cops  —  Five Americans among 184 people arrested; 230 abused children taken to safety  —  Below:  —  msnbc.com staff and news service reports  —  An Internet pedophile ring with up to 70,000 members — thought to be the world's largest …

Brown looking better for reelection  —  There's been a fundamental shift in the Ohio political landscape over the last three months and it looks like the biggest beneficiary of that could be Sherrod Brown.  —  When PPP polled Ohio in December Brown looked extremely vulnerable for reelection …

Mayor's Approval Rating At Lowest Point In 8 Years, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Bloomberg's Time Off Is Nobody's Business, Voters Say  —  New York City voters disapprove 51 - 39 percent of the job Mayor Michael Bloomberg is doing, his lowest score since a 51 - 37 percent disapproval November 23 …

DEA seizes Georgia's supply of lethal injection drug  —  The Drug Enforcement Administration has seized Georgia's supply of a key execution drug over questions about how it was imported to the United States.  —  “Drugs were seized today by the DEA from our facility in Jackson,” …

Video: Political leader who couldn't pass a budget lectures on fiscal responsibility  —  Chutzpah.  —  If you had to pick the poster child for budgetary irresponsibility over the last few years — and certainly for 2010 — it would have to be former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Cut Pentagon's budget, reduce Afghan forces  —  DAVENPORT, Iowa — America should slash defense spending — and consider shrinking its presence in Afghanistan, Haley Barbour said Monday night.  —  Barbour, a likely candidate for president in 2012, told Iowa county leaders and activists …