Senate Republicans filibuster Hagel nomination  —  Senate Republicans delivered a sharp rebuke to President Obama on Thursday when they began a filibuster of Chuck Hagel's nomination as secretary of defense.  —  The confirmation process stalled Thursday when GOP senators deprived Hagel …

Meteor strike injures hundreds in central Russia  —  The BBC's Daniel Sandford says people described a ball of fire in the sky  —  A meteor crashing in central Russia's Ural mountains has injured at least 500 people, as the shockwave blew out windows and rocked buildings.

JW Releases Confidential USDA Videos Revealing “Cultural Sensitivity Training” Program … Videos Reveal Indoctrination Program Requiring USDA Staffers to Bang on Tables, Chant, “The pilgrims were illegal aliens”  —  (Washington, DC) - Judicial Watch today released previously unseen USDA videos revealing …

Pelosi: Congressional pay cut undermines dignity of the job  —  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that she opposes a cut in congressional pay because it would diminish the dignity of lawmakers' jobs.  —  “I don't think we should do it; I think we should respect the work we do …

Over a Decade, Maureen O'Connor Spent $1 Billion on Bets  —  LOS ANGELES — A former mayor of San Diego spent the last decade wagering more than a billion dollars at casinos across the country, eventually liquidating her savings, auctioning her belongings, selling off real estate …

Parents Complain About School Ad Excluding Whites From Tutoring Program  —  AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - A school principal said no white children were allowed at an after-school tutoring program, and now some parents call it discrimination.  —  The principal at Mission Viejo Elementary in Aurora sent …

BREAKING: Huge Meteor Blazes Across Sky Over Russia; Sonic Boom Shatters Windows [UPDATED]  —  Still frame from a dashcam video of a huge meteor over Russia. … Apparently, at about 09:30 local time, a very big meteor burned up over Chelyabinsk, a city in Russia just east of the Ural mountains …

Lone Star rising  —  AUSTIN, Texas — California fancies itself as a trendsetter and Florida prizes its claim as a microcosm of America.  —  But when it comes to politics — both present-day battles and future trends — ground zero right now is the fastest-growing of the mega-states: Texas.

Rubio and the Zombies  —  The State of the Union address was not, I'm sorry to say, very interesting.  True, the president offered many good ideas.  But we already know that almost none of those ideas will make it past a hostile House of Representatives.  —  On the other hand, the G.O.P. reply …

That Tesla Data: What It Says and What It Doesn't  —  The Model S at the Tesla Supercharger in the Interstate 95 service plaza in Milford, Conn.  —  Elon Musk , the chief executive of Tesla Motors, has now responded in detail to the account of my test drive of his Model S electric car …

Obama to press gun control during visit to Chicago's South Side  —  President Obama heads to his hometown Chicago on Friday to press Congress to act on his proposals to reduce gun violence.  —  Obama will deliver his remarks at the Hyde Park Academy at around 2:45 p.m. CT.

WBUR Poll Gives Markey Slight Edge Over Lynch  —  BOSTON — A new WBUR poll (PDFs - topline, crosstabs) finds a competitive race between the two Democratic congressmen running in Massachusetts' special U.S. Senate election.  —  The poll, conducted by the MassINC Polling Group …

Rahm Emanuel May Be Toying With 2016 Presidential Run  —  Obama's former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel might make a go for 2016, two well-connected Democrats tell Lloyd Grove—as long as Hillary doesn't.  And the potty-mouthed Chicago mayor could win.  —  Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel …

Gangster Bankers: Too Big to Jail  —  How HSBC hooked up with drug traffickers and terrorists.  And got away with it  —  By  —  The deal was announced quietly, just before the holidays, almost like the government was hoping people were too busy hanging stockings by the fireplace to notice.

Senate Dems unveil $110B sequester-replacement bill  —  Senate Democratic leaders unveiled a $110 billion sequester-replacement bill at a closed-door caucus meeting Thursday that would replace $85 billion in automatic spending cuts set for March 1.  —  The Senate Democratic package …