Legislature approves high-speed rail spending  —  Photo: Anonymous, ASSOCIATED PRESS / SF  —  Sacramento —  A divided state Senate approved billions of dollars in funding to start construction on California's ambitious high-speed rail line Friday, handing the controversial project $7.9 billion …

American Twilight  —  This weekend, I am thousands of miles from home in a remote and isolated part of the world with erratic communications and lack of basic services.  No, not Washington, D.C. Things aren't that primitive, thank God.  I'm in a rude Highland croft way up a far Scottish brae …

Akron restaurant owner dies hours after meeting President Obama  —  The Rev. Jesse Jackson and his son have stopped at Ann's Place.  So have several professional football players.  —  For Josephine “Ann” Harris, however, none came close to President Barack Obama visiting her West Akron restaurant.

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter resigns from Congress  —  Michigan Republican Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, who launched a short-lived White House bid in 2011, announced Friday that he was resigning from Congress, citing personal family issues.  —  “After nearly 26 years in elected office …

Taliban publicly execute woman near Kabul: officials  —  (Reuters) - A man Afghan officials say is a member of the Taliban shot dead a woman accused of adultery in front of a crowd near Kabul, a video obtained by Reuters showed, a sign that the austere Islamist group dictates law even near the Afghan capital.

DNC Scientists Disprove Existence of Roberts' Taxon  —  WASHINGTON DC - Jubilant scientists at the DNC's High Speed Word Collider (HSWC) announced today they have conclusively disproven the existence of Roberts' Taxon, the theoretical radioactive Facton particle that some had worried would lead …

MoveOn Is REALLY Sorry For Saying Bad Things About Charles Barron  —  Charles Barron (Photo: Facebook)  —  As the Democratic establishment rallied around Brooklyn Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries' congressional campaign, a number of forces weighed in.  Among them was the progressive advocacy group MoveOn.org …

Mixed Message as Republicans Claim Health Law Cuts Medicare  —  WASHINGTON — For much of the past year, Republicans assailed President Obama for resisting the Medicare spending reductions they say are needed to both preserve health benefits for older Americans and avert a Greek-style debt crisis.

Afghanistan made ‘major US ally’  —  Nato-led troops are to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014  —  The United States has given Afghanistan the status of “major non-Nato ally”.  —  The designation, which includes countries such as Australia, Egypt and Israel, gives preferential access to US arms exports and defence co-operation.

Decriminalization of Drug Possession Doesn't Increase Drug Use, New Report Finds  —  Drug Violence , Drugs , Drug Policy , Drug Legalization , Enrique Peña Nieto , Overdose Deaths , Prescription Drugs , Drug Decriminalization , Drug Prohibition , War On Drugs , Politics News

Some Health Care For All, but not Too Much  —  Tyler Cowen caught a lot of flak recently for saying something that is clearly correct.  A lot of the flak has come from people who have misunderstood the implications of what he wrote.  —  Here's the relevant passage: … Cowen is right.