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.

Dominican prostitute: Sen. Bob Menendez ‘likes the youngest and newest girls’  —  In a little-noticed email published online Wednesday by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a young Dominican woman wrote nine months ago that she slept with 59-year-old New Jersey Democratic …

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 …

Kelly ‘proud’ of Giffords's Senate testimony  —  Mark Kelly, the husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), said Thursday he was “extremely proud” of his wife's testimony before a Senate hearing on stemming gun violence.  —  “For her to get up there ... as people can see …

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 …

Worth Reading  —  Here's a really meaty and interesting essay in the new and relaunched TNR about gun ownership and what gun owners want.  What Gun Owners Really Want by Walter Kirn.  —  There's a lot there.  But one point resonated with me because it's a flip side of something I was trying …

Syria, Iran threaten consequences for Israeli strike  —  In wake of reported IAF attack on a military research center in Syria, Syrian ambassador to Lebanon says Damascus has option to respond as Iran threatens “serious consequences” for Tel Aviv; Hezbollah, Russia condemn strike.

Myths of Weight Loss Are Plentiful, Researcher Says  —  If schools reinstated physical education classes, a lot of fat children would lose weight.  And they might never have gotten fat in the first place if their mothers had just breast fed them when they were babies.

Why We Took Cocaine Out of Soda  —  Social injustice and “a most wonderful invigorator of sexual organs”  —  1894 ad for Vin Mariani, art by Jules Cheret  —  When cocaine and alcohol meet inside a person, they create a third unique drug called cocaethylene.  Cocaethylene works like cocaine, but with more euphoria.

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.

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 …

Rand Paul: GOP must ‘evolve’ on immigration  —  Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Wednesday that Republicans must “evolve” on immigration while preventing America from becoming a magnet for immigrants to come and get benefits.  —  “We cannot just be a beacon for everyone to come here on benefits …

Tennessee “Don't Say Gay” bill would require teachers to out their students  —  Language in the bill also appears to endorse counseling for students who are “at risk” of being LGBT  —  If you thought that you'd heard the last of Tennessee's “Don't Say Gay” bill after state lawmakers abandoned the legislation last year, think again.

HHS clarifies exemptions from individual mandate in states that buck Medicaid expansion  —  As the Obama administration took new steps Wednesday to implement the healthcare law's individual mandate, it clarified an exemption for people whose governors don't take part in the expanded Medicaid program.

Homeland Security has advice for confronting mass murders: scissors  —  WASHINGTON — Is your workplace getting shot up by a crazed gunman?  —  No problem — just grab a pair of scissors and fight back!  —  That's some of the helpful advice in a new instructional video from the Department …

House Judiciary Chair Introduces Unconstitutional Bill To Permanently Abolish The Income Tax  —  Last week, House Judiciary Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) introduced the Tax Code Termination Act, which would abolish the entire federal tax code in 2018, with exceptions for Social Security and Medicare taxes …

Some Unions Grow Wary of Health Law They Backed  —  Labor unions enthusiastically backed the Obama administration's health-care overhaul when it was up for debate.  Now that the law is rolling out, some are turning sour.  —  Union leaders say many of the law's requirements will drive …