Durbin Hits Back At NRA's LaPierre: ‘You Missed That Point Completely’ (VIDEO)  —  After National Rifle Association exectuive vice president Wayne LaPierre insisted during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence Wednesday that universal background checks on firearms purchases …

Chinese Hackers Infiltrate New York Times Computers  —  SAN FRANCISCO — For the last four months, Chinese hackers have persistently attacked The New York Times, infiltrating its computer systems and getting passwords for its reporters and other employees.  —  After surreptitiously tracking …

Tennessee 'Don't Say Gay' Bill Now Requires Teachers To Inform Parents If Their Child Is Gay  —  Tennessee's so-called 'Don't Say Gay' bill died with the adjournment of the state assembly last year.  But now the measure is back — with new, harsher requirements.

Israeli Jets Attack Target Deep in Syria  —  JERUSALEM — Israeli warplanes carried out a strike deep inside Syrian territory on Wednesday, American officials reported, saying they believed the target was a convoy carrying sophisticated antiaircraft weaponry on the outskirts of Damascus …

A résumé check: Is Chuck Hagel up to the job?  —  There's not much on Chuck Hagel's résumé that screams secretary of defense.  —  He's not a former White House chief of staff, like Dick Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld.  He never ran the CIA, like Leon Panetta or Robert Gates.

IGNORE LENA DUNHAM'S ‘GIRLS’ AT YOUR OWN PERIL, CONSERVATIVES  —  There's plenty about Girls to annoy conservatives, yet this often creepy, usually skeevy, critically-acclaimed HBO series is also a test for conservatives.  —  Will we finally heed Andrew Breitbart's warnings about the importance …

What Professor Hagel Taught  —  Cyberwar and Bjorn Lomborg at Georgetown.  A former student is “disgusted” by the nomination process.  —  Before he became President Obama's Secretary of Defense nominee, Senator Chuck Hagel was a professor at Georgetown's School of Foreign Service for three years.

Obama expects immigration reform bill as early as June  —  President Obama said Wednesday he expects an immigration reform bill will be signed into law by year's end, and possibly as early as June.  —  “I'm hopeful that this can get done, and I don't think that it should take many, many months …

Obama administration takes steps to implement individual mandate  —  The Obama administration took new steps Wednesday toward implementing the individual mandate in its signature healthcare law, downplaying the scope of the unpopular provision by stressing rules that allow exemptions from the requirement to purchase insurance.

Teen Performer At Inaugural Events Fatally Shot In Chicago  —  Hadiyah Pendleton, 15, was shot in the back while hanging out with a group of teens on Tuesday  —  Hadiya Pendleton died after she was shot in the back while hanging out with a group of teens on Tuesday.  Police say she wasn't the intended target.

Tornado leaves extensive damage in NW Georgia; 1 reported dead  —  At least one death and numerous injuries were reported Wednesday as storms, including a tornado, hit parts of Bartow, Gordon and other northwest Georgia counties, leaving destruction and power outages in their wake.

Reid Tips His Hand Over Dems' Sequester Strategy  —  In the House of Representatives, Republicans claim they've braced themselves to let the full force of the sequester hit government programs of all kinds on March 1, defense most directly, rather than compromise with Democrats to replace …

Niners CB says openly gay players would not be welcomed on the team  —  NEW ORLEANS - San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver has made inflammatory comments regarding homosexuality in football just a few days before Super Bowl XLVII.  —  Shock jock Artie Lange revealed he had interviewed Culliver …

Democratic senators call for legislation on equal pay for women  —  A group of Democratic senators came to the floor Wednesday to urge the passage of a bill that would help women fight for equal pay.  —  Democratic Sens. Barbara Mikulski (Md.), Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), Barbara Boxer (Calif.) …

Obama goes ‘skeet shooting all the time’?  Hardly ever, sources say  —  Jan. 29, 2013: President Obama waves to reporters as he walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington.AP  —  News of President Obama's apparently long-secret fondness for skeet shooting came as a surprise …

RUBIO'S AMNESTY A PATH TO OBLIVION FOR GOP  —  RESIZE:  —  Apart from finding out that Barack Obama did far worse in his re-election than nearly any other incumbent who won re-election, the only thing that perked me up after Nov. 6 was coming across a Time magazine published after the 2004 election …

Some families to be priced out of health overhaul  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - Some families could get priced out of health insurance due to what's being called a glitch in President Barack Obama's overhaul law.  IRS regulations issued Wednesday failed to fix the problem as liberal backers of the president's plan had hoped.

Video Games Are ‘A Bigger Problem Than Guns,’ Says Actual U.S. Senator  —  On MSNBC today, U.S. senator Lamar Alexander (a Tennessee Republican) set a new benchmark for insanity by claiming that games are worse than guns.  —  “I think video games is a bigger problem than guns …

Backyard Farming Gets Fancy  —  High-End ‘Homesteaders’ Want Pricey, Stylish Tools; The $1,300 Chicken Coop  —  Can chicken feed, canning jars and garden hoses feel chic?  —  Absolutely, say retailers cashing in on the “modern homesteader” craze.  As more urban and suburban homeowners …

For immediate release  —  Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in December suggests that growth in economic activity paused in recent months, in large part because of weather-related disruptions and other transitory factors.  Employment has continued to expand …

CNN ‘Starting Point’ Staffers Brace Themselves  —  The announcement that CNN is totally revamping its morning show and scrapping Soledad O'Brien's “Starting Point” has sent shivers through her staff.  —  Insiders tell us Executive VP Ken Jautz and VP Bart Feder addressed the staff after the show went off the air today.

White House: GOP responsible for contracting economy  —  White House press secretary Jay Carney laid the blame for a surprise economic contraction squarely at the feet of congressional Republicans Wednesday, saying economic threats during the “fiscal cliff” negotiations had prevented important defense spending.