Afghan president to expel U.S. special forces from key province  —  KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai has given U.S. special forces two weeks to leave a key battleground province after some U.S. soldiers there were found to have tortured or even killed innocent people, the president's spokesman said on Sunday.

Watching the Sunday shows so you don't have to  —  Today, some centrist pundits and legislators solved the sequester by demanding “balance” and “leadership”  —  Here's what I learned this morning on “the Sunday shows,” the three network news panel programs that define the parameters …

On the sequester, the American people ‘moved the goalposts’  —  I don't agree with my colleague Bob Woodward, who says the Obama administration is “moving the goalposts” when they insist on a sequester replacement that includes revenues.  I remember talking to both members of the Obama administration …

Bloomberg's ban prohibits 2-liter soda with your pizza and some nightclub mixers  —  Take a big gulp, New York: Hizzoner is about to give you a pop.  —  Nanny Bloomberg unleashes his ban on large sodas on March 12 — and there are some nasty surprises lurking for hardworking families.

Senators near a deal on background checks for most private gun sales  —  A bipartisan group of senators is on the verge of a deal that would expand background checks to all private firearms sales with limited exemptions, but significant disagreements remain on the issue of keeping records …

Bobby Jindal: Republicans Can Continue Discriminating Against Gays And Still Win Elections  —  Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) — a possible Republican candidate for president in 2016 — rejected former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman's argument that conservatives must embrace marriage equality for gays …

Emotional Pope says God asked him to retire  —  Pope Benedict XVI delivered an emotional last Sunday prayer in St Peter's Square, saying God had told him to devote himself to prayer but assuring supporters he would not “abandon” the Church.  —  Tens of thousands of supporters turned …

Political movies look to win big at Oscars  —  Political movies are expected to rake in the trophies at Sunday night's Academy Awards ceremony.  —  “Argo,” a film about the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, is favored to win the biggest prize of the night: Best Picture.

Father goes to strip club, leaves 2-year-old in cold car, LAPD says  —  A father allegedly left his 2-year-old daughter in a truck while he went inside a strip club to drink, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.  —  Santos Barillas, 24, of Canoga Park, faces several charges …

The big sequester gamble: How badly will the cuts hurt?  —  Evan Vucci/AP - President Barack Obama speaks in Chicago Feb. 15, 2013.  The president and congressional Republicans each seem content with the political ground they hold and are prepared to let across-the-board spending cuts take effect on March 1.

Michael Goldfarb Gleeful Provocateur at Intersection of Many Worlds  —  At 11:42 a.m. on Feb. 14, a conservative online magazine called The Washington Free Beacon posted a dispatch about a speech Chuck Hagel gave in 2007 in which it said he called the State Department “an adjunct to the Israeli foreign minister's office.”