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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

Barnes & Noble Weighs Its E-Reader Investment  —  Even for a company with a lot of bad news lately, the bulletin from Barnes & Noble this month had an ominous feel.  —  Barnes & Noble, the nation's largest book chain, warned that when it reports fiscal 2013 third-quarter results on Thursday …

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.

THE HOUSE OF PAIN … - DOUBLE TAKE - PHOTO BOOTH - DAILY SHOUTS - PAGE-TURNER - DAILY COMMENT - AMY DAVIDSON - JOHN CASSIDY - BOROWITZ - RICHARD BRODY

Cruz Defends Government Overthrow Lie  —  On Friday we noted that The New Yorker had dug up a three year old speech in which freshman Sen. Ted Cruz had charged that there were at least a dozen professors at Harvard Law School during his time there in the mid-90s who “would say they were Marxists …

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 …

Sotomayor slams controversial remarks by prosecutor  —  Washington (CNN) - Two members of the Supreme Court took the unusual step of speaking out over racially insensitive remarks by a federal prosecutor in a drug case, when rejecting review of the defendant's appeal.

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.

Judd Makes Steps Toward Senate Bid  —  The beautiful movie star tries to take on Washington by defeating a powerful Republican leader.  It's not a plot line, it's reality: The actress Ashley Judd is making moves to take on GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.