Argument recap: DOMA is in trouble (FINAL UPDATE)  —  Analysis  —  If the Supreme Court can find its way through a dense procedural thicket, and confront the constitutionality of the federal law that defined marriage as limited to a man and a woman, that law may be gone, after a seventeen-year existence.

Ashley Judd is not running for Senate  —  Update: Ashley Judd has announced via Twitter that she will not run for Senate.  “After serious and thorough contemplation, I realize that my responsibilities & energy at this time need to be focused on my family,” she wrote.

‘Rude’ lawmaker Louie Gohmert pulls rank on cops over parking ticket  —  A Texas Republican congressman got into a late-night verbal altercation with U.S. Park Police officers earlier this month, pulling rank in an attempt to get out of a parking ticket near the Lincoln Memorial.

Idaho teacher investigated for saying ‘vagina’ during biology lesson  —  A high school science teacher in Idaho is under investigation by the state's professional standards commission because he reportedly used the word “vagina” during a biology lesson.  —  Tim McDaniel, who teaches 10th grade science …

Customers Flee Wal-Mart Empty Shelves for Target, Costco  —  Margaret Hancock has long considered the local Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) superstore her one- stop shopping destination.  No longer.  —  During recent visits, the retired accountant from Newark, Delaware, says she failed to find …

Ex-Tucson mayoral hopeful McClusky plans free shotguns for high-crime areas  —  Tucson residents living in crime-ridden areas could soon receive free shotguns.  —  Operating on the premise an armed neighborhood is a safer neighborhood, a group led by former mayoral candidate Shaun McClusky …

‘Biggest ever attack’ slows internet  —  The row centres on the blocking of a web-hosting company alleged to be hosting spam websites  —  The internet around the world has been slowed down in what security experts are describing as the biggest cyber-attack in history.

Cate Edwards ‘devastated’ by father's affair  —  Cate Edwards, the daughter of John Edwards, was “devastated” to learn about the affair that shattered her father's political career, she said in an interview that is slated to air this week.  —  “Yes, he told me” about the affair …

CIA director faces a quandary over clandestine service appointment  —  As John Brennan moved into the CIA director's office this month, another high-level transition was taking place down the hall.  —  A week earlier, a woman had been placed in charge of the CIA's clandestine service for the first time in the agency's history.

72nd Annual Peabody Awards Winners Announced  —  ATHENS, Georgia - Thirty-nine recipients of the 72nd Annual Peabody Awards were announced today by the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.  The winners, chosen by the Peabody board as the best …

North Korea Puts Its War Machine on Display  —  Despite massive international pressure, North Korea has been moving ahead with its long-range missile and nuclear ambitions, launching a rocket in December and conducting a nuclear test in February.  International sanctions tightened in response …

Sarah Palin PAC video: ‘Loaded’ for 2014  —  Former Republican Gov. Sarah Palin sent out the message that she is still firmly rooted in America's political debate in an ad released by her political action committee Wednesday, which focuses on the 2014 elections.

Are Evangelicals Now More Scorned than Homosexuals?  —  Direct from the school of, “Counter-Intuitive Thinking,” I bring you this question: When it comes to the issue of same-sex marriage, are Evangelical Christians actually the ones more ridiculed than homosexuals?

White House defends Secret Service pick  —  White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Wednesday defended the selection of Julia Pierson to head the Secret Service after a report in the Washington Post suggested her pick provoked resentment from rank-and-file agents who felt she had spent relatively little time in the field.

Local Airport Closures Cause GOPers Sequestration Anxiety  —  We've noted previously that outside Washington D.C. — where politicians and reporters obsess endlessly over inconsequential but high-valence things like White House tours and Easter egg hunts — sequestration is beginning to cause real harm, and political pain.