CASE CLOSED!  CONGRESSMAN WEINER WAS FRAMED!  (An important update to “The Weiner affair: Close to solution (but I need your help!)”  —  WARNING — NOW HEAR THIS (added at 10:13, EST): I welcome comments from people who hope to prove me wrong.  Disagreement is fine.

Romney to Announce White House Bid, Declare ‘Obama has Failed America’  —  Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will announce today that he's making his bid for the Republican presidential nomination official, declaring, “Barack Obama has failed America.”  —  In excerpts of prepared remarks obtained …

Ensuring your information is safe online  —  The Internet has been an amazing force for good in the world—opening up communications, boosting economic growth and promoting free expression.  But like all technologies, it can also be used for bad things.  Today, despite the efforts …

Exclusive: Pelosi Says Democrats Have ‘Very Good Chance’ to Win Back the House in 2012  —  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told ABC News in an exclusive interview that Democrats “have a very good chance of winning the House” majority in the 2012 elections, pointing to Medicare as the key issue …

Employment Data May Be the Key to the President's Job  —  WASHINGTON — No American president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has won a second term in office when the unemployment rate on Election Day topped 7.2 percent.  —  Seventeen months before the next election, it is increasingly clear …

Christie refuses to reimburse N.J. for traveling by helicopter to see son's baseball game  —  TRENTON — Facing broad criticism for flying by helicopter to watch his son's high school baseball game in Bergen County, Gov. Chris Christie refused today to refund the state for Tuesday's $2,500-an-hour flight.

Discovery of ‘worms from hell’ deep beneath Earth's surface raises new questions  —  For the first time, scientists have found complex, multi-celled creatures living a mile and more below the planet's surface — raising new possibilities about both the spread of life on Earth and potential subsurface life on other planets and moons.

Jobless claims fall as labor costs tepid  —  (Reuters) - New claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, but not enough to assuage fears the labor market recovery has taken a step back.  —  Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 422,000 …

Syria: Crimes Against Humanity in Daraa  —  Killings, Torture in a Locked-Down City Under Siege  —  (New York) - Systematic killings and torture by Syrian security forces in the city of Daraa since protests began there on March 18, 2011, strongly suggest that these qualify as crimes against humanity …

Global war on drugs has ‘failed’ say former leaders  —  Opiate use increased by 35% worldwide from 1998-2008, in spite of anti-drug efforts  —  The global war on drugs has “failed” according to a new report by group of politicians and former world leaders.

Iraq not ready to stand on own, lawmakers say  —  A war-weary Congress and American public must realize the U.S. mission in Iraq will stretch years beyond a December troop-withdrawal goal, two prominent House members said Wednesday.  —  Under a Washington-Baghdad pact …

New ad dings Obama on Israel  —  The Emergency Committee for Israel, a conservative pro-Israel group, is up with a new ad — celebrating Democrats who support Israel.  Here it is:  —  The point of the ad is hard to miss: There is strong bipartisan consensus in support of Israel …

Tornadoes Tear Through Mass. Leaving Four Dead, Dozens Injured  —  Multiple tornadoes slammed western and central Massachusetts Wednesday, leaving a path of destruction that destroyed buildings, flipped vehicles and left at least four people dead and an unknown number injured.

The Declining ‘Need’ For Doctors  —  Looking back on it, I don't think I expressed my point about technology and the quantity of teachers very well the other day.  One way of getting at one I mean about this might be to ask yourself about the past 100 years' worth of growth in the number of doctors.

If we need taxes, why not pollution taxes?  —  Let's start with the obvious: Most Democrats (and, for that matter, most of the bipartisan deficit panels that are churning out endless white papers right now) agree that we can't tackle our long-term debt issues through spending cuts alone.

Chicago technologist Harper Reed joins President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign  —  One of the most recognizable faces in Chicago's startup scene joins the Obama campaign; former General Growth Properties CEO John Bucksbaum hits the lecture circuit  —  Chicago technologist Harper Reed …

Sarah Palin Dons Star of David Necklace for NYC Visit  —  You couldn't miss it, the big Star of David hanging around Sarah Palin's neck as she toured the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island on Wednesday.  —  NBC New York asked Palin about the significance just as she boarded her bus outside Fox Newschannel to head off to Boston.

In Iowa, Pawlenty's Campaign Is Taking the Road Less Traveled  —  LE MARS, Iowa — There was no tour bus idling in the parking lot, no satellite trucks racing down the highway and no time for sightseeing excursions, unless you count driving by the soon-to-open museum here in a city …