Barney Frank: Dems, unions made ‘big mistake’ in pushing for Wisconsin recall  —  Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) slammed unions and liberal activists for pushing to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R).  —  “I think the people on the Democratic side made a big mistake and the funding thing was a big deal …

Senator Asks DOJ to Investigate SWAT-ting Attacks on Conservative Bloggers  —  A number of conservative bloggers allege they have been targeted through the use of harassment tactics such as SWAT-ting (fooling 911 operators into sending emergency teams to their homes), in retaliation for posts …

Estonian Rhapsody  —  Since Estonia has suddenly become the poster child for austerity defenders — they're on the euro and they're booming!  — I thought it might be useful to have a picture of what we're talking about.  Here's real GDP, from Eurostat:  —  So, a terrible — Depression-level …

Romney: Obama slowed recovery to push Obamacare  —  In an appearance in Texas Wednesday, Mitt Romney charged that President Obama “knowingly slowed down the recovery in this country...in order to put in place Obamacare.”  The president's action, Romney said, “deserves a lot of explaining.”

First Lady Requires Photo ID for Her Book Signings; Voter ID Law-hating Media Fail to Note Obama Hypocrisy  —  The Obama administration has done its best to oppose states from instituting new, stricter voter ID laws, complaining that many minority voters lack photo identification.

Mitt Romney's Hotmail Hacker Would Like You to Know That He Is Very, Very Sorry  —  Yesterday, a tipster sent us a note indicating that he had successfully accessed Mitt Romney's Hotmail and DropBox accounts after guessing the answer to a security question—Romney's favorite pet.

Ray Bradbury |  1920-2012: Ray Bradbury, Science Fiction Master, Dies at 91  —  Ray Bradbury, a master of science fiction whose imaginative and lyrical evocations of the future reflected both the optimism and the anxieties of his own postwar America, died on Tuesday in Los Angeles.  He was 91.

The Horace Mann School's Secret History of Sexual Abuse  —  From the elevated platform of the No. 1 train's last stop at 242nd Street, you can just about see the lush 18-acre campus of the Horace Mann School.  The walk from the station is short, but it traverses worlds.

BREAKING: Another Federal Judge Strikes Down DOMA  —  Another federal judge has struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), finding the law unconstitutional.  —  The victory comes in the case of Edie Windsor, who was seeking a refund of the federal estate tax paid by the estate of her late wife.

14-Year-Old Talk Show Host — Homosexuality is ‘Perverted’ Choice  —  14-YEAR-OLD TALK SHOW HOST  —  Gays Choose Perversion  —  No Matter What Gaga Says  —  You gotta laugh just a little watching a 14-year-old radio talk show host blast homosexuality as a choice people make — regardless of what Lady Gaga says.

Jeb: 2012 was “probably my time”  —  Sure, Jeb Bush talked about not taking VP in his appearance on CBS this morning, but he's said that a thousand times.  —  This exchange was far more interesting and pretty big — he says that 2012 was probably the best moment for him to have run for president, but questions whether he could've won.

Miss Pennsylvania USA Resigns In Protest Of Transgender Candidates  —  Before Miss Rhode Island Olivia Culpo was crowned Miss USA last week, she answered a question about transgender contestants in the pageant, openly embracing their inclusion.  But Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin …

Taking flight: #Twitterbird  —  Over the past six years, the world has become familiar with a little blue bird.  The bird is everywhere, constantly associated with Twitter the service, and Twitter the company.  —  Starting today you'll begin to notice a simplified Twitter bird.

The Urge to Punish  —  I've been hearing various attempts to explain the ECB's utterly bizarre refusal to cut interest rates despite soaring unemployment, sliding inflation, and on top of all that the special problems of a monetary union that probably can't survive unless overall demand is strong.