Osama bin Laden to al-Qaeda: 'Don't bother assassinating Joe Biden'  —  US officials have revealed that Osama bin Laden's diaries contain the rather startling conclusion that he didn't think Vice President Joe Biden was worth bumping off (hat tip: a tweet from my New York colleague Jon Swaine).

Newt Gingrich Was More Supportive Of Individual Mandates Than Mitt Romney … Elections 2012 , Newt Gingrich , Romney Health Care , Gingrich Mandates , Gingrich Mandates Health Care , Healt Care Reform , Newt Gingrich Individual Mandate , Newt Health Care , Romney Individual Mandates , Politics News

Tom Coburn Helped Cover Up John Ensign Affair: Senate Ethics Report … John Ensign , Senate Ethics Committee , Tom Coburn , C Street , Coburn Ensign Affair , Coburn John Ensign Affair , Cynthia Hampton , Doug Hampton , John Ensign Affair , John Ensign Scandal , John Ensign Tom Coburn …

President Obama, Completely Wrong on Reason for High Unemployment  —  CBS's Mark Knoller, covering a town hall on the economy with the president this morning, reports: “President Obama blames high unemployment rate on ‘huge layoffs of government workers’ at federal, state and local levels.”

Two men arrested over alleged terror plot in New York  —  Two men arrested in relation to an alleged terror plot in New York City were of Moroccan and Algerian descent, FOX News reported Thursday.  —  Moroccan Mohammad Mamdouh and Algerian Ahmed Serhani were arrested late Wednesday …

Rand Paul Is Really Crazy  —  When the devoted follower of crackpot cult leader Ayn Rand gets elected to the Senate, you wind up having Congressional hearings filled up with feverish reasoning like this: … Except, of course, we already have a system that establishes the right to health care for elderly Americans.

Dem Candidate Targets Asian Vote With Bizarre Ad: ‘We Minorities Should Stick Together’  —  The jury's out on just how seriously Democratic candidate Dan Adler should be taken in the crowded primary to replace departed Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) in California's 36th district …

NBC Planning News Magazine Show With Brian Williams  —  NBC is developing a new prime-time news magazine show hosted by “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams, according to people familiar with the matter, as the network's new management attempts to buck NBC's prime-time slump.

Gov. Christie won't say if he believes in evolution or creationism  —  JERSEY CITY — Gov. Chris Christie refused to comment when asked if he believes in evolution or the theory of creationism when asked at a press conference earlier today.  —  “That's none of your business,” Christie said.

Who you calling ‘un-American’?  —  ConocoPhillips, one of the world's largest and most profitable oil companies, yesterday said it's “un-American” to take away taxpayer subsidies from the oil industry.  This wasn't a verbal slip; the comment was put in a press release.

GOP Aide: Republicans Not ‘Intellectually Honest’ on Taxes  —  House Speaker John Boehner said he will not agree to any budget compromise that raises taxes, even if it threatens our debt limit, in a speech Monday to the Economic Club of New York.  His message was consistent with the GOP's platform …

I.R.S. Moves to Tax Gifts to Groups Active in Politics  —  Big donors like David H. Koch and George Soros may owe taxes on their millions of dollars in contributions to nonprofit advocacy groups that are playing an increasing role in American politics.  —  The Internal Revenue Service confirmed …

Immigrants For Sale  —  Georgia is the latest state to pass an anti-immigrant bill like SB1070, with Governor Nathan Deal expected to sign it tomorrow.  Georgia is also home to the largest private prison in the country.  Coincidence?  Not even close.  —  It's hardly a secret …

NASA-Funded Group Doctors Sea Level Data  —  Catastrophic sea level rise is one of the most valued hole cards played by alarmists in the global warming debate.  In An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore showed computer generated images of what Manhattan would look like if sea level rose 20 feet.

Facebook Busted in Clumsy Smear on Google  —  THE DAILY BEAST ON:  —  The social network secretly hired a PR firm to plant negative stories about the search giant, The Daily Beast's Dan Lyons reveals—a caper that is blowing up in their face, and escalating their war.

People Who Liked This Candidate Also Liked ...  Like This Story  —  Follow Slate's Politics … - Vermont's Not-So-Secret Plan To Bring Canadian-Style Health Care Into America- Neo-Nazi Plumber Murder: Can a Court Deny Child Custody to a Parent Who's a White Supremacist?

Your family's health care costs: $19,393  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Health care costs for a family of four rose again in 2011, with employees paying a much larger share of the rising expenses, according to a new industry report Wednesday.  —  American families who are insured through …

Despite adviser's warnings, Obama calls bin Laden ‘jihad’ leader  —  It didn't get much attention over the weekend, but, in his interview with “60 Minutes,” President Barack Obama described Osama bin Laden as a leader of a global “jihad.”  That's a word that he and his advisers generally avoid.

Barack Obama's Grandmother Threatened By Al Qaeda  —  Security has been increased around the home of President Barack Obama's step-grandmother in Kenya after an African al Qaeda branch issued a personal threat against her, police said today.  —  Kenyan police told ABC News they are patrolling round …

Opposition Grows to White House Executive Order on Contractors  —  Opposition to a White House proposal to require federal contractors to disclose all campaign contributions intensified on Thursday as Republicans - and some Democrats - said it would skew the government's bidding process.

U.S. State Department condemns ‘odious’ Ugandan anti-gay bill  —  Washington (CNN) — The State Department Thursday condemned a proposed bill in the Ugandan parliament that could make engaging in homosexual acts a capital offense punishable by death.  The bill may be debated Friday by the Ugandan parliament.

Haley Barbour Shrugs As Mississippi Floods  —  Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour just gave small government a whole new meaning.  Small, as in mean and cold-hearted.  While Barbour bows and scrapes to the Conservative God of the Almighty Dollar, people are bracing to lose everything in what could be the worst flooding in history.

Google Near DOJ Settlement Over Online Drug Ads  —  Google Inc. is close to settling a U.S. criminal investigation into allegations it made hundreds of millions of dollars by accepting ads from online pharmacies that break U.S. laws, according to people familiar with the matter.

Ed Schultz To Al Sharpton: Is There ‘Underlying Racism’ Behind Fox News Criticizing Common's WH Invite?  —  Ed Schultz and Al Sharpton discussed how quickly the controversy over Common's White House invitation to read poetry erupted as a result of Fox News' ongoing coverage.