Statement from Senator Kirk on Same-Sex Marriage  —  When I climbed the Capitol steps in January, I promised myself that I would return to the Senate with an open mind and greater respect for others.  —  Same-sex couples should have the right to civil marriage.  Our time on this Earth is limited, I know that better than most.

State Sen. Malcolm Smith, city Councilman Halloran arrested in ‘bribery plot’ to rig mayor race  —  State Senator Malcolm Smith was arrested at his home in Queens today.  —  State Sen. Malcolm Smith and city Councilman Dan Halloran were arrested this morning on charges they were plotting …

Obama to Unveil Initiative to Map the Human Brain  —  President Obama on Tuesday will announce a broad new research initiative, starting with $100 million in 2014, to invent and refine new technologies to understand the human brain, senior administration officials said Monday.

Outrage 101: Radical jailed in slay now Columbia prof  —  Former Weather Underground radical Kathy Boudin — who spent 22 years in prison for an armored-car robbery that killed two cops and a Brinks guard — now holds a prestigious adjunct professorship at Columbia University's School of Social Work, The Post has learned.

NRA plan: Let teachers carry guns  —  An NRA-backed task force on Tuesday recommended allowing teachers to carry weapons in school, while avoiding any discussion of Congress' most-talked about gun control proposals.  —  “Teachers should teach,” said former Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.), the chair of the task force.

Guns Are Now Required For Citizens Of Nelson, Georgia  —  NELSON, Ga. (AP) — Backers of a newly adopted ordinance requiring gun ownership in a small north Georgia town acknowledge they were largely seeking to make a point about gun rights.  —  The ordinance in the city of Nelson …

Airline to charge overweight passengers more  —  Samoa Air has become the world's first airline to implement “pay as you weigh” flights, meaning overweight passengers pay more for their seats.  —  “This is the fairest way of travelling,” chief executive of Samoa Air, Chris Langton, told ABC Radio.

Cruz to test 2016 waters with South Carolina trip  —  Cambridge, Massachusetts (CNN) - He's been in Washington only three months, but U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is already planning a pilgrimage to a critical presidential primary state.  —  The outspoken Cruz, a conservative attorney …

Unemployment in Euro Zone Reaches a Record High  —  PARIS — Unemployment in the euro zone rose to yet another record high in the first two months of the year, official data showed Tuesday, providing confirmation that the economy remains in a deep freeze.  —  The jobless rate reached 12 percent …

Pat Robertson Blames Ivy League Schools For Lack Of Miracles In America  —  It may have been April 1st yesterday, but televangelist Pat Robertson wasn't kidding when he told a viewer that Americans aren't experiencing God's miracles because they are too “sophisticated.”

Tennessee's Colossally Bad Plan to Change Its Primary System  —  You can hear bad ideas almost every day.  But only occasionally do you hear a colossally bad, ill-conceived idea, one that leaves you wondering who dreamed it up.  —  Tennessee state Sen. Frank Nicely, a Republican from Strawberry Plains …

Keystone XL Pipeline Draws Broad Support  —  Continuing Partisan Divide in Views of Global Warming  —  OVERVIEW  —  As the Obama administration approaches a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, a national survey finds broad public support for the project.

Sequestration Effects: Cuts Sting Communities Nationwide  —  WASHINGTON — It's now an article of faith that dire sequestration warnings were overblown.  —  New studies downsize potential job losses because of the federal budget cuts.  Agencies have figured ways to ensure that the more alarming effects …

Keyes: Marriage Equality is the ‘Archetype of all Crimes Against Humanity’  —  Alan Keyes once again appeared on Stan Solomon's talk show, this time to discuss their stringent opposition to marriage equality.  —  After host, Steve Davis, claimed that just because they “oppose homosexual marriage …

Donor Says He Sought Menendez on Medicare Without Breaking Law  —  Salomon Melgen, the Florida political donor at the center of a criminal probe, said he and Senator Robert Menendez are “like brothers” who spoke weekly, yet his companies never benefited and he broke no laws.

SEC Ex-Chief Lands at Consultant  —  Schapiro Is Latest Former U.S. Regulator to Join Promontory Financial; ‘No Revolving Door’  —  Less than four months after stepping down as the top U.S. securities regulator, Mary Schapiro is joining a consulting firm that has built a reputation …

White House: Latest N. Korean threats ‘not the path’ to resolving conflicts  —  White House press secretary Jay Carney warned Tuesday that North Korean threats to restart a nuclear reactor it mothballed five years ago would only further isolate the country from the international community.

Ben Carson blasts ‘vicious,’ white liberal critics as ‘the most racist out there’  —  Dr. Ben Carson on Tuesday blasted his critics for heat he's taken recently over controversial remarks on gay marriage, calling his white liberal detractors “the most racist out there.”