The Murders That Don't Count  —  Delric Miller IV died in a hail of bullets a month ago.  When someone fired 37 AK-47 rounds into his Detroit home at 4:30 a.m., he was mortally wounded while dozing on the couch.  He was nine months old.  No one made the multicolored teething ring he got …

When the Archbishop Met the President  —  Cardinal Dolan thought he heard Barack Obama pledge respect for the Catholic Church's rights of conscience.  Then came the contraception coverage mandate.  —  New York  —  The president of the U.S. Conference of Bishops is careful to show due respect for the president of the United States.

EPA Backpedals on Fracking Contamination  —  Texas Water-Pollution Suit Dropped; Third Recent Setback on Drilling for Agency  —  The Environmental Protection Agency has dropped its claim that an energy company contaminated drinking water in Texas, the third time in recent months that the agency …

Dems: Team Romney call to release foreign leader transcripts shows ‘naivete’  —  I'm late to this, but the Democrats are seizing on a Mitt Romney spokeswoman's statement yesterday, responding to a call from Chicago for the candidate to release his tax returns, saying the president shou'd …

7 California boys arrested in attack on teen … PALMDALE, CALIF. - Seven black teens have been arrested on suspicion that they committed a hate crime when they attacked a 15-year-old Hispanic boy while he was walking home from school in Southern California, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

He's a Uniter!... Barack Obama Accuses Republicans of “Madness”  —  He's a uniter.  —  Barack Obama, the worst jobs president since the Great Depression, accused Republicans of “madness” tonight in his campaign speech.  —  The AP reported: … Actually, the policies that are not working belong to Barack Obama.

Campaign Fund Prompts Talk of Giffords Comeback  —  LOS ANGELES — When Gabrielle Giffords announced that she would step down from Congress in January, she did not shy away from the possibility that she would one day run for office again.  —  “I will return,” she said, “and we will work together for Arizona and this great country.”

Why Are American Conservatives More Anti-Science Than European Conservatives?  —  Chris Mooney has a new book out, The Republican Brain, which I haven't read yet.  But he has a long piece over on the right which says, basically, that conservatives are wrong about a lot of stuff …

Orwell and March Madness  —  If you've been watching the N.C.A.A. men's basketball championship — a k a March Madness — you've undoubtedly seen the commercial.  It's an N.C.A.A. ad that shows college athletes pumping iron, running sprints and playing games.

Mega Millions: Why I threw away common sense and bought a ticket  —  We played.  —  My husband and I decided to do a financially unwise thing and take a chance at winning the $640 million dollar Mega Millions lottery.  It's not a smart use of even a dollar because the odds of winning are, well, astronomical — 1 in 176 million.