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.

Democrats and Republicans Miscalculate on Automatic Cuts  —  WASHINGTON — With Congress unlikely to stop deep automatic spending cuts that will strike hard at the military, the fiscal stalemate is highlighting a significant shift in the Republican Party: lawmakers most keenly dedicated …

Gibbs: I was ordered not to acknowledge drone program existed  —  Former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Sunday that he and other administration spokesmen often seem evasive about the government's drone program because they are told not to acknowledge the secret strikes.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien resigns as Archbishop  —  Cardinal Keith O'Brien was to be Britain's only representative at the papal vote  —  Britain's most senior Roman Catholic cleric, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, is stepping down as the Archbishop of St 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 …

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 …

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 …

John Kerry invents country of Kyrzakhstan  —  John Kerry has suffered his first gaffe as the new US secretary of state, inventing the nation of ‘Kyrzakhstan’  —  In an embarrassing slip of the tongue, Mr Kerry last week praised US diplomats working to secure “democratic institutions” in the Central Asian country, which does not exist.

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.

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.