Of Dystopias and Alphas  —  President Obama was on the way to Alpha when a plea came for him to be, well, more alpha.  —  LuAnn Lavine, a real estate agent from Geneseo, a rural town just up the road from Alpha, Ill., the last stop on the president's Midwestern bus tour, told The Times's Jeff Zeleny …

Obama dangerously close to a ‘Killer Rabbit’ moment  —  President heads for Martha's Vineyard vacation as unemployment lines grow  —  Is President Barack Obama on the verge of being attacked by a bunny wabbit?  —  Absolutely.  —  All the signs suggest that Obama is in immediate danger of a rabbit attack.

On ‘This Week’: Jon Huntsman and David Axelrod  —  He served in the Obama administration but now he wants to bring it to an end.  Sunday, in a “This Week” exclusive, Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman talks with ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper about his plan to win his party's nomination.

Koch Responds To Buffet: ‘My Business And Non-Profit Investments Are Much More Beneficial To Society’  —  America's current tax system forces people making $50,000 a year to pay a higher rate than hedge fund managers making $2.4 million an hour.  Warren Buffett penned an op-ed last week declaring …

Perry Mines Texas System to Raise Cash  —  Two years ago, John McHale, an entrepreneur from Austin, Tex., who has given millions of dollars to Democratic candidates and causes, did something very unusual for him: he wrote a $50,000 check to a Republican candidate, Rick Perry, then seeking a third full term as governor of Texas.

Smacked by big market swings, investors should alter their outlook  —  With these whopping 4 percent swings — up 500 points, down 500 points, up another 500 points, down another 500 points — traders have whiplash.  We saw another huge move down Thursday, when the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P all lost big …

Rep. Maxine Waters: ‘The tea party can go straight to hell’  —  Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) came out swinging against Republicans in Congress on Saturday as she addressed the unemployed during a forum in Inglewood.  —  The event occurred a day after new statistics were released showing …

Romney to quadruple La Jolla home size  —  The GOP contender plans local fundraisers for president this weekend  —  View from the beach of the 3,009-square-foot Romney home in La Jolla , which the GOP contender plans to demolish and replace with an 11,062-square-foot home.  — Meg Roussos

Cummings: Black community wants Obama to ‘fight harder’  —  Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said Sunday that African-Americans want President Obama to “fight harder” to create jobs in the struggling U.S. economy.  —  Speaking on CNN's State of the Union, Cummings said the black community …

Libya, Syria and Middle East unrest - live updates  —  • Tripoli calm as Gaddafi says ‘rats’ have been repelled  —  • Rebels claim it is ‘zero hour’ for Gaddafi as they tighten noose  —  • Syria's Assad to respond to calls for his removal in TV interview

Nature Without the Nanny State  —  CHECKING the Forest Service Web site before a hike this weekend into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, I noticed a curious warning: “Aggressive mountain goats have been reported.  Use caution and move away.”  No. Really?  But they're so photogenic — snow-white …

Iran jails U.S. “hikers” as spies for 8 years  —  (Reuters) - Two Americans held in Iran for more than two years have been convicted as spies and sentenced to eight years' jail, Iranian TV reported on Saturday, a verdict that will further strain already very poor relations with Washington.