Ted Cruz: The Distinguished Wacko Bird from Texas  —  In less than a year, Texas Republican Ted Cruz has become the most despised man in the U.S. Senate.  He's been likened to Joe McCarthy, accused of behaving like a schoolyard bully, and smeared by senior members of his own party.

Ted Cruz scrambles to salvage strategy  —  Ted Cruz and his allies are fighting a battle they will almost certainly lose in the Senate this week.  —  The freshman Republican from Texas, along with Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and some vocal House conservatives, pushed House Republican leaders …

Nationalities of Kenya shopping mall gunmen unknown  —  NAIROBI — Kenyan security forces on Monday seized control of a luxury shopping mall that had been attacked by Islamist militants, but officials said some assailants remained hidden inside stores in the mall and little was known …

Blame for Both Sides as Possible Government Shutdown Approaches  —  Tea Party Reps Say Stick to Principles, Even if Shutdown Results  —  If the federal government shuts down because Republicans and the Obama administration fail to agree on a budget, there will be plenty of blame to go around.

Lower Health Insurance Premiums to Come at Cost of Fewer Choices  —  WASHINGTON — Federal officials often say that health insurance will cost consumers less than expected under President Obama's health care law.  But they rarely mention one big reason: many insurers are significantly limiting …

Graham: ‘Allahu akbar’ is a ‘war chant’  —  Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Monday said “allahu akbar” is a “war chant” that sends him running for cover.  —  “When somebody yells ‘allahu akbar’ in the Middle East, I duck,” the senator said on Fox News radio.

A Mayoral Hopeful Now, de Blasio Was Once a Young Leftist  —  The scruffy young man who arrived in Nicaragua in 1988 stood out.  —  He was tall and sometimes goofy, known for his ability to mimic a goose's honk.  He spoke in long, meandering paragraphs, musing on Franklin D. Roosevelt, Karl Marx and Bob Marley.

Egypt court bans all Muslim Brotherhood activities  —  (Reuters) - An Egyptian court on Monday banned the Muslim Brotherhood from carrying out any activities in the country and ordered the seizure of the group's funds, widening a campaign to debilitate the Islamist movement of deposed President Mohamed Mursi.

Free to Be Hungry  —  The word “freedom” looms large in modern conservative rhetoric.  Lobbying groups are given names like FreedomWorks; health reform is denounced not just for its cost but as an assault on, yes, freedom.  Oh, and remember when we were supposed to refer to pommes frites as “freedom fries”?

It's the Austerity, Stupid: How We Were Sold an Economy-Killing Lie  —  IT WAS THE EXCEL ERROR HEARD ROUND THE WORLD.  —  In January 2010, as the global economy was slowly beginning to claw its way out of the depths of the Great Recession, the Harvard economists Carmen Reinhart …

Population Decline of Unauthorized Immigrants Stalls, May Have Reversed  —  1. Overview  —  The sharp decline in the U.S. population of unauthorized immigrants that accompanied the 2007-2009 recession has bottomed out, and the number may be rising again.  As of March 2012 …

Scandal at Clinton Inc.  —  How Doug Band drove a wedge through a political dynasty  —  One Thursday evening last September, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Tony Blair met in New York to conduct what was supposed to be a high-minded discourse on terrorism, geopolitics, and the global economy.

Dick Cheney and The One Shot Antelope Hunt  —  msevren@k2tv.com, facebook.com/michaelsevren  —  Dick Cheney's hunt ended without a bang as the Remington team won.  —  “The Remington team where the only team that was successful with all three of their hunters,” said Terry Martin, President of the One Shot Hunt Club.

In Supreme Court Opinions, Web Links That Go Nowhere  —  WASHINGTON — Supreme Court opinions have come down with a bad case of link rot.  According to a new study, 49 percent of the hyperlinks in Supreme Court decisions no longer work.  —  This can sometimes be amusing.