TPMDC  —  McConnell: GOP Will Fight To Let ANY Employer Deny Birth Control Coverage  —  Not satisfied with President Obama's new religious accommodation, Republicans will move forward with legislation by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) that permits any employer to deny birth control coverage …

Even Critics of Safety Net Depend on It Increasingly  —  LINDSTROM, Minn. — Ki Gulbranson owns a logo apparel shop, deals in jewelry on the side and referees youth soccer games.  He makes about $39,000 a year and wants you to know that he does not need any help from the federal government.

Santorum suggests Romney may have rigged CPAC poll  —  Rick Santorum suggested on Sunday that Mitt Romney's campaign may have rigged a straw poll of conservative activists by paying the entrance fee for supporters.  —  Romney beat Santorum by 7 points Saturday in a straw poll of almost 3,500 attendees …

'Do not follow me down the road to jihad.  Go and get a good education in the West': Osama Bin Laden's extraordinary instructions to his young children  —  Osama Bin Laden told his children to live peacefully in the West where they would get a good education, his brother-in-law has revealed.

Singer Whitney Houston dies at 48  —  LOS ANGELES - Whitney Houston, who reigned as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, died Saturday night.  She was 48.

We Need a Second Party  —  WATCHING the Republican Party struggling to agree on a presidential candidate, one wonders whether the G.O.P. shouldn't just sit this election out — just give 2012 a pass.  —  You know how in Scrabble sometimes you look at your seven letters and you've got only vowels that spell nothing?

EXCLUSIVE: Conservative Board Unanimously Condemned Gaffney's ‘Reprehensible’ And ‘Unfounded’ Attacks  —  This is the first in a two-part series about the Islamaphobia network and CPAC.  —  Frank Gaffney and John Bolton, who condemned Gaffney in a unanimous ACU resolution

Trouble in paradise: Maldives and Islamic extremism  —  MALE — At the Maldives' National Museum, smashed Buddhist statues are testament to the rise of Islamic extremism and Taliban-style intolerance in a country famous as a laid-back holiday destination.  —  On Tuesday, as protesters backed …