Romney leads in SC, Paul gaining  —  Mitt Romney continues to hold a modest lead in South Carolina's Republican primary for President.  He's at 29% to 24% for Newt Gingrich, 15% for Ron Paul, 14% for Rick Santorum, 6% for Rick Perry, 5% for Jon Huntsman, and 1% for Buddy Roemer.

Allen West on the Marines Incident: ‘Shut Your Mouth, War Is Hell’  —  Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), a former Army lieutenant colonel, sends THE WEEKLY STANDARD an email commenting on the Marines' video, and has given us permission to publish it.  —  “I have sat back and assessed the incident …

Under voter pressure, members of Congress backpedal (hard) on SOPA  —  The public outcry over the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act seems to have gotten so loud that even members of Congress can hear it.  On Thursday we covered the news that Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) was expressing second thoughts about SOPA's DNS provisions.

Chronicling Mitt's mendacity  —  Paul Krugman noted this morning that Mitt Romney tells so many falsehoods so often, he seems determined to rehabilitate George W. Bush's reputation “by running a campaign so dishonest that it makes Bush look like a model of truth-telling.”

The New Gmail Sucks  —  Doesn't it though?  It looks horrible.  The interface is badly designed.  Keyboard short cuts do unexpected things like e.g. make your email disappear irrevocably.  And while you can temporarily revert back to the old look, they make it clear that they are going to impose …

False Flag  —  A series of CIA memos describes how Israeli Mossad agents posed as American spies to recruit members of the terrorist organization Jundallah to fight their covert war against Iran.  —  Buried deep in the archives of America's intelligence services are a series of memos …

TV chef famous for Southern-fried decadence to reveal she has diabetes  —  Paula Deen's “brunch burger” uses a donut instead of a bun.  —  Deen, with Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show,” could make millions endorsing a Novartis diabetes drug, sources say.  —  Paula Deen — the queen of high-calorie …

Fighting Antipiracy Measure, Activist Group Posts Personal Information of Media Executives  —  The online activist group known as Anonymous, which has targeted opponents of the Occupy Wall Street movement and businesses that stopped providing services to WikiLeaks, has set its sights on a new adversary: media executives.

Rep. Trent Franks backs Gingrich  —  (CNN) - Arizona Rep. Trent Franks, who served as former Congressional co-chairman for Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign, announced on Friday he's now throwing his support behind Newt Gingrich.  —  “America cannot afford another four years of Barack Obama …

France credit rating cut puts eurozone bail-out fund at risk  —  The €440bn (£365bn) eurozone bail-out fund faced fresh threats last night after France, its second-largest contributor, was stripped of its AAA credit rating for the first time.  —  The French downgrade casts …

GOP Rep. Berates Student Concerned About Pell Grant Cuts, Tells Her To Join The Military  —  To avoid a government shutdown at the end of 2011, Republicans succeeded in their campaign to cut the federal Pell Grant program by effectively kicking up to 100,000 low-income students off the rolls.

Obama Asks Congress for Powers to Trim Government  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama on Friday announced an aggressive campaign to shrink the size of the federal government, a proposal less notable for its goal — the fight against bloat has been embraced by every modern-day president …

Obama Campaign to Host Dance Party in Boston  —  (CNSNews.com) - The Obama campaign's under-40 organizing arm, Generation 44, is hosting a dance party on Jan. 18 to raise funds for the president's reelection campaign.  —  The party, held at Boston dance club The Goodlife …