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 …

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.

How the GOP forced Obama's hand  —  President Barack Obama used to want a grand deficit deal because he philosophically believed it was best for the country, and politically believed it was best for him.  —  Now he needs it because he has no choice.  —  Obama's failure to avert $85 billion …

The Scariest Climate Change Graph Just Got Scarier … Back in 1999, Penn State University climate scientist Michael Mann released the climate change movement's most potent symbol: The “hockey stick,” a line graph of global temperature over the last 1,500 years that shows an unmistakable …

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 …

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.”

Rand Paul Praises Horrendous Supreme Court Decision, Would Let Employers Ruthlessly Exploit Workers  —  Lochner v. New York is widely viewed as one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in American history.  It is taught in law schools, alongside decisions upholding segregation …

Juan Williams' plagiarism problem  —  EXCLUSIVE: Fox News pundit blames researcher for word-for-word similarities.  “Unacceptable,” says Hill editor  —  In a case of apparent plagiarism, Fox News pundit Juan Williams lifted — sometimes word for word — from a Center for American Progress report …

Officials: Most NYC High School Grads Need Remedial Help Before Entering CUNY Community Colleges  —  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.

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.

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.

North Korea says it ends peace pacts with South  —  North Korea says it is scrapping all non-aggression pacts with South Korea, closing its hotline with Seoul and the crossing point between the countries.  —  The announcement follows a fresh round of UN sanctions against Pyongyang over its controversial nuclear programme.

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.