Some see Syria as edge for Obama in fiscal showdown  —  U.S. military action in Syria could give the White House an advantage in the looming fiscal showdown with congressional Republicans, according to defense and budget experts.  —  They said the Syria crisis could boost calls by President Obama …

Sex between students and teachers should not be a crime  —  Betsy Karasik is a writer and former lawyer.  —  There is a painfully uncomfortable episode of “Louie” in which the comedian Louis C.K. muses that maybe child molesters wouldn't kill their victims if the penalty weren't so severe.

U.S. Had Intel on Chemical Strike Before It Was Launched  —  American intelligence agencies had indications three days beforehand that the Syrian regime was poised to launch a lethal chemical attack that killed more than a thousand people and has set the stage for a possible U.S. military strike on Syria.

Ginsburg will be first justice to officiate at same-sex wedding  —  Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will become the first Supreme Court member to conduct a same-sex marriage ceremony Saturday when she officiates at the Washington wedding of Kennedy Center President Michael M. Kaiser.

You know that “women make 77 cents to every man's dollar” line you've heard a hundred times?  It's not true.  —  How many times have you heard that “women are paid 77 cents on the dollar for doing the same work as men”?  Barack Obama said it during his last campaign.

Craig Zucker: What Happens When a Man Takes on the Feds  —  Buckyballs was the hottest office game on the market.  Then regulators banned it.  Now the government wants to ruin the CEO who fought back.  —  New York  —  'So this is what starting over looks like.  I have a seven-by-seven space with two little desks in it.

Barack Obama is proving an embarrassing amateur on the world stage compared to George W. Bush  —  George W. Bush was widely mocked by the Left during the Iraq War, with liberals jeering at the “coalition of the willing,” which included in its ranks some minnows such as Moldova and Kazkhstan.

G.O.P. Senators Fail to Head Off Primary Challenges by Tea Party Rivals  —  WASHINGTON — For the past two years, Republican senators facing re-election have very deliberately spent millions of dollars, hired multiple consultants and cast scores of conservative votes with one goal in mind …

Police: 2 Women Gang Raped By Juveniles In Wilmington Park  —  WILMINGTON, Del. (CBS) — Neighbors near Kosciuszko Park in Wilmington expressed anger and outrage Friday, after learning the details of a brutal gang-rape that happened in the park Thursday.  —  Police say two women, ages 32 and 24 …

Conviction of Toledo man for stockpiling weapons began with the tracking of camisoles  —  CLEVELAND, Ohio — The paperwork said the mailed package contained $40 worth of women's camisoles.  Someone in China sent it to a Toledo address.  —  Inside, there were no camisoles — just low-quality …

Russia's Vladimir Putin challenges US on Syria claims  —  Russian President Vladimir Putin has challenged the US to present to the UN evidence that Syria was responsible for chemical weapons attacks.  —  Mr Putin said it would be “utter nonsense” for Syria's government to provoke opponents …

Hard Times for Gender Studies Major  —  Hilarity ensued Monday after @Andria_XX complained that social-media criticism of Miley Cyrus included “bodyshaming/slutshaming” and “heteropatriarchal crap.”  Readers will recall that Andria has an “Honors BA in Social Justice and Peace Studies” …

Liz Cheney Calls On Enzi To Denounce Dishonest “Poll”  —  CHENEY CALLS ON ENZI TO DENOUNCE DISHONEST “POLL”  —  The Cheney for Senate campaign has received reports that there is a “push poll” underway in the state in which those conducting the poll are lying about Liz Cheney's views on two important issues.

Cornel West Attacks Al Sharpton: ‘Bonafide House Negro of the Obama Plantation’  —  Public intellectual Cornel West tore into many of this week's speeches surrounding the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s “I Have a Dream” speech, accusing everyone from President Obama to Rev. Al Sharpton of “sanitizing” Dr. King's vision.

U.S. spy agencies mounted 231 offensive cyber-operations in 2011, documents show  —  U.S. intelligence services carried out 231 offensive cyber-operations in 2011, the leading edge of a clandestine campaign that embraces the Internet as a theater of spying, sabotage and war …