Rand Paul: ‘Seriously’ weighing 2016 bid  —  Before Thursday, Rand Paul — tea party firebrand — hadn't vaulted into the top tier of Republican power players.  —  But all that seemed to change this week.  The Kentucky Republican senator showed serious clout by holding a 13-hour filibuster …

Obama sets end-of-July goal for bipartisan agreement on deficit  —  President Obama wants to complete a grand bargain to reduce the deficit by the end of July, an aggressive timeline coinciding with the expiration of the nation's debt limit.  —  Obama told a small group of Republican senators …

It's time to overturn DOMA  —  In 1996, I signed the Defense of Marriage Act.  Although that was only 17 years ago, it was a very different time.  In no state in the union was same-sex marriage recognized, much less available as a legal right, but some were moving in that direction.

In Study, Past Decade Ranks Among Hottest  —  New research suggests average global temperatures were higher in the past decade than over most of the previous 11,300 years, a finding that offers a long-term context for assessing modern-day climate change.  —  The study, published Thursday …

Samira Ibrahim Speaks  —  Yesterday, THE WEEKLY STANDARD first reported that the State Department was about to bestow an International Woman of Courage Award on an anti-Semite and 9/11 fan.  Egypt women's rights activist Samira Ibrahim had left a record on her Twitter feed of statements quoting Hitler …

The Good, Racist People  —  Last month the actor Forest Whitaker was stopped in a Manhattan delicatessen by an employee.  Whitaker is one of the pre-eminent actors of his generation, with a diverse and celebrated catalog ranging from “The Great Debaters” to “The Crying Game” to “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.”

Elizabeth Warren: Banks Get Wrist Slaps While Drug Dealers Get Jail  —  Sen. Elizabeth Warren unloaded on bank regulators Thursday about the fact that British bank HSBC is still doing business in the U.S., with no criminal charges filed against it, despite confessing to what one regulator called “egregious” money laundering violations.

How Disney Bought Lucasfilm—and Its Plans for ‘Star Wars’  —  One weekend last October, Robert Iger, chief executive officer of Walt Disney (DIS), sat through all six Star Wars films.  He'd seen them before, of course.  This time, he took notes.  Disney was in secret negotiations to acquire Lucasfilm …

February Employment Report: 236,000 Jobs, 7.7% Unemployment Rate  —  From the BLS: … Click on graph for larger image.  —  The headline number was above expectations of 171,000 payroll jobs added.  Employment for January was revised lower, but jobs added in December was revised higher.

New Study Finds Firearms Laws Do Nothing to Prevent Homicides  —  That's the headline you should be seeing, but won't.  Instead, you will see headlines like this one, on CNN: “Study links gun laws and lower gun mortality.”  Or this one, from the Chicago Tribune: “States with strict gun laws found to have fewer shooting deaths.”

Sen. Carl Levin announces he will not seek re-election in 2014  —  WASHINGTON - Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., announced today that he will not seek re-election in 2014.  He released the following statement:  —  I have decided not to run for re-election in 2014.

New York Hearing Set as Son-in-Law of Bin Laden Is Caught  —  WASHINGTON — Osama bin Laden's son-in-law was recently arrested in the Middle East, was transferred to the United States and is now in a New York jail, according to two people briefed on the matter.

Priebus: GOP needs new strategy  —  He says party must look beyond early caucuses, primaries.  —  If the GOP is going to win presidential elections, candidates can't compete just in Iowa and the seven other early states, the party's national chairman said during a visit here Thursday.

Markey who?  GOP: Poll ‘speaks volumes’ … Massachusetts GOP leaders say they are encouraged by a new UMass Lowell/Boston Herald poll showing Democratic front-runner U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey remains largely unknown by most voters despite a 36-year career in Congress.

Wonket Sexclusive: Totally Blameless Crime-Stopper James O'Keefe To Pay $100,000 To ACORN Criminal  —  James O'Keefe—the blonde bombshell who set the conservative world of hidden-camera YouTube movies ablaze—has just agreed to a $100,000 settlement to calm down the unjustly fired …

Officials: 80 Percent Of Recent NYC High School Graduates Cannot Read  —  NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — It's an education bombshell.  —  Nearly 80 percent of New York City high school graduates need to relearn basic skills before they can enter the City University's community college system.