Weiner mocks reporter, scolds staff as cameras roll at campaign event  —  “I just have a feeling I like stepped into a Monty Python bit,” Anthony Weiner said as a British journalist questioned him about his campaign to become New York City mayor.  He then offered to present an impromptu weather forecast.

To Our Customers  —  We designed our phone, video, and text services (Silent Phone and Silent Text) to be completely end-to-end secure with all cryptography done on the clients and our exposure to your data to be nil.  The reasons are obvious — the less of your information we have, the better it is for you and for us.

Rand Paul on Republicans' Voter Appeal and the Federal Reserve  —  How seriously are you thinking about the White House?  —  At this point we're thinking about ways to grow the Republican Party and won't make any decision about whether that involves me running or not for about a year.

EXCLUSIVE: Alec Baldwin Set To Host New MSNBC Primetime Show (UPDATED)  —  Mediaite has learned from a senior source in the cable news industry with knowledge of MSNBC's programming that actor Alec Baldwin is getting his own weekly show in MSNBC's primetime lineup.

NSA loophole allows warrantless search for US citizens' emails and phone calls  —  Exclusive: Spy agency has secret backdoor permission to search databases for individual Americans' communications  —  The National Security Agency has a secret backdoor into its vast databases under …

Phony Fear Factor  —  We live in a golden age of economic debunkery; fallacious doctrines have been dropping like flies.  No, monetary expansion needn't cause hyperinflation.  No, budget deficits in a depressed economy don't cause soaring interest rates.  No, slashing spending doesn't create jobs.

‘Muslims peaked in the Dark Ages.  But since then?’:  Richard Dawkins embroiled in Twitter row over controversial comments  — The author of The God Delusion tweeted that the world's Muslims had won fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College, Cambridge  — His comments sparked anger among …

Scott Brown's Younger Brother Arrested Heavily Armed, Impersonating Police … Bruce Brown, the brother of former senator Scott Brown, is shown in this NECN.com video.  —  NECN.com  —  Bruce W. Brown, the younger brother of former Mass. Senator Scott Brown, was arrested last night heavily armed …

FIRST ON CNN: U.S. pulls diplomats from Lahore, Pakistan, amid terror threat  —  Washington (CNN) — The State Department has evacuated most of its diplomats from Lahore, Pakistan in response to a terrorist threat against the U.S. consulate, senior State Department and other senior U.S. officials told CNN.

National Organization for Marriage Decries Gay Activist Witch Hunt in Iowa  —  Contact: Elizabeth Ray or Jen Campbell (703-683-5004)  —  “This is another attempt to shut down criticism of activist judges and politicians who wish to redefine marriage.”  — Brian Brown, NOM president —

How Dumb Is Immigration Debate?  This Dumb.  —  Everything you know about immigration, particularly unauthorized immigration, is wrong.  —  So says Princeton University's Doug Massey, anyway.  Massey is one of the nation's preeminent immigration scholars.

A how-to book about inciting a moral panic.  —  Paul Bedard of the Washington Examiner has uncovered a fascinating document: an 80-page “talking points” monograph titled “Preventing Gun Violence Through Effective Messaging,” written by a trio of Democratic political operatives.

Russia's Stimulus Plan: Open the Gulag Gates  —  MOSCOW — A business owner in Russia has a better chance of ending up in the penal colony system once known as the gulag than a common burglar does.  —  More than 110,000 people are serving time for what Russia calls “economic crimes,” …

In McAuliffe's Former Car Company, Echoes of Romney and Bain  —  Remember the Democrats' withering attacks on Mitt Romney for his business dealings in China and holdings in the Caribbean?  The tables have turned.  Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe faces attacks from Republicans …

Apple's Tim Cook, tech execs meet with Barack Obama to talk surveillance  —  President Barack Obama hosted Apple CEO Tim Cook, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, Google computer scientist Vint Cerf and other tech executives and civil liberties leaders on Thursday for a closed-door meeting about government surveillance, sources tell POLITICO.

EXCLUSIVE: Oklahoma Congressman Comes Out As A Birther  —  AFTON, Oklahoma — Although Freshman Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) believes President Obama may secretly be a Kenyan who forged his birth certificate, he thinks it's too late to do anything about it.  —  During a town hall meeting …

Christie Spends $4.7M In Sandy Relief Funds On Pseudo Campaign Ads Featuring Himself  —  Perhaps no man has fallen from the grace of the GOP faster than NJ Governor Chris Christie.  —  Tensions have been mounting between the Christie and the GOP.  At this year's CPAC Convention …

The Nudge Debate  —  This has been a great era for the study of error.  We know that people can be induced to buy more cans of soup if you put a “Limit: 12 per customer” sign on the display.  We know that if you ask people what movie they want to see next week, they're likely to mention a classy art film.

Gov. Cuomo got $100,000 from developer, then signed law giving it big tax breaks  —  Twin $50,000 donations were made to Andrew Cuomo's campaign by two companies that have the same address as Extell Financial Services, which is part of Extell Development Co. — one of five developers …