White House releases state-by-state breakdown of sequester's effects  —  The White House on Sunday detailed how deep spending cuts set to begin this week would affect programs in every state and the District, as President Obama launched a last-ditch effort to pressure congressional Republicans …

Nikki Finke's Oscar Live-Snark: Four Hours Of Unfunny Seth MacFarlane; Unnecessary Michelle Obama; ‘Argo’ Wins Best Picture  —  I'm live-snarking the 85th Oscars for the outstanding film achievements of 2012 starting at 5:30 PM PT tonight.  Comments will open when the show starts inside the Dolby Theatre.

Pope accepts Cardinal O'Brien's resignation  —  The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has accepted on the 18 February 2013 the resignation of His Eminence Cardinal Keith Patrick O'Brien from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh.

Austerity, Italian Style  —  Two months ago, when Mario Monti stepped down as Italy's prime minister, The Economist opined that “The coming election campaign will be, above all, a test of the maturity and realism of Italian voters.”  The mature, realistic action, presumably …

Long-time escort confirms Senator Bob Menendez paid her for sex  —  A professional escort who travels the East Coast seeing clients in cities from Miami to Boston has identified a photo of Senator Bob Menendez as a man who paid her for sex.  The woman, in her late 30s, told The Daily Caller prior …

Dems 2016: Will Hillary Clinton clear the field?  —  The ranks of Democratic governors are filled with ambitious politicians boasting records that would probably play well with primary voters in 2016.  —  But even as they eye a move from the statehouse to the White House …

The GOP revival must go beyond joining Twitter  —  There seems to be a desire to blame Republicans' electoral difficulties and the Romney campaign's loss on technological failings.  I wish this were the problem, because it would be relatively easy to fix.  But it's not.

From the President  —  As American as . . . Compromise  —  President James Wagner responds to readers regarding his recent Emory Magazine column: … For ongoing coverage of developments related to President Wagner's column on compromise, please visit the Emory News Center.  —  Original Column:

Trade protectionism looms next as central banks exhaust QE  —  Officials at the US Federal Reserve may be more worried than they have let on about the treacherous task of extricating America from quantitative easing.  This is an unsettling twist, with global implications.

US forces ‘must leave’ Afghan region  —  The Afghan president has ordered US special forces to leave Wardak province within two weeks over allegations of disappearances and torture.  —  The measures were being taken due to the actions of Afghans considered to be part of US special forces, said a spokesman for Hamid Karzai.