Police Defend Use Of Force On ‘Occupy UC Davis’  —  DAVIS (CBS13) - Law enforcement officials defended the tactics used Friday to dismantle an encampment set up by “Occupy Wall Street” sympathizers on the UC Davis quad, a raid that drew accusations of excessive force from students …

Exclusive: Lobbying Firm's Memo Spells Out Plan to Undermine Occupy Wall Street (VIDEO)  —  (crossposted from MSNBC's “Open Channel” blog)  —  A well-known Washington lobbying firm with links to the financial industry has proposed an $850,000 plan to take on Occupy Wall Street and politicians …

Newt: Fire the janitors, hire kids to clean schools  —  Via POLITICO's Reid Epstein, Newt Gingrich tonight said at an address at Harvard that child work laws “entrap” poor children into poverty - and suggested that a better way to handle failing schools is to fire the janitors, hire the local students and let them get paid for upkeep.

Investors move to price in euro split  —  The eurozone infection this week moved decisively from the periphery of the continent to its core.  —  Many investors are no longer just fretting about the possibility of a default here or there.  They are now starting to worry about the chances of the euro itself breaking up.

Aspects of Gingrich divorce story distorted  —  For almost as long as Newt Gingrich has been in public life, an unflattering story has shadowed him: That as a rising young Republican congressman from Georgia, Gingrich ended his first marriage by serving his wife with divorce papers while she lay in a hospital bed dying of cancer.

Perry: ‘Obama is a socialist’  —  Rick Perry doubled down on criticism that President Obama is a “socialist” and defended his campaign ads that critics say quotes the president out of context.  —  Perry, who has been struggling to regain his footing after a series of gaffes in the Republican debates …

‘Near Poor’: Not Quite in Poverty, but Still Struggling  —  WASHINGTON — They drive cars, but seldom new ones.  They earn paychecks, but not big ones.  Many own homes.  Most pay taxes.  Half are married, and nearly half live in the suburbs.  None are poor, but many describe themselves as barely scraping by.

Incredible Europeans  —  I had some hopes for Mario Draghi; he has just done his best to kill those hopes.  In his view, it's all about credibility, defined thusly: … Unbelievable.  Right now, the ECB has too much credibility on the inflation front; the spread between German nominal …

‘Obama Classic’ to feature NBA stars  —  It's still possible to see NBA All Stars in action this year — if you're willing to cough up cash for the Obama Victory Fund.  —  With extra time on their hands because of pro basketball's lockout, super hoopsters Kevin Durant, Chris Bosh …

Panetta Warns Israel on Consequences of Iran Military Strike  —  Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said ahead of a meeting Friday with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak that he would warn his Israeli counterpart about the global economic consequences of a military strike on Iran's nuclear program …

Occupy HOPE  —  This image represents my support for the Occupy movement, a grassroots movement spawned to stand up against corruption, imbalance of power, and failure of our democracy to represent and help average Americans.  On the other hand, as flawed as the system is …

Newt Gingrich: It all comes down to ‘Mitt & me’  —  A surging Newt Gingrich said he's bracing for searing political attacks from all sides now that he's the latest front-runner in the cutthroat Republican bid for president — and he predicted the GOP nomination will come down to him and Mitt Romney.