New York Times: No Evidence Al Qaeda ‘Had Any Role’ In Benghazi Attack  —  A months-long investigation by The New York Times “turned up no evidence that Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role” in the assaults last year on a U.S. diplomatic mission and a C.I.A. compound in Benghazi, Libya.

DNC sends email defending Obama from impeachment possibility  —  The Democratic National Committee (DNC) sent out a paranoid email Saturday evening urging supporters to vote for Democrats so that Republicans can't impeach President Obama.  —  The email, subject line “Impeachment,” …

It's Not Just Poor People Getting Hosed When Congress Lets Unemployment Insurance Expire  —  NEW YORK — David Torian is an Ivy League-educated lawyer and a onetime chief of staff to then-Rep. Michael McNulty (D-N.Y.).  He has 23 years of experience in congressional and government relations …

On Ice: 100 year-old negatives discovered in Antarctic  —  Conservators restoring an Antarctic exploration hut recently made a remarkable discovery: a small box of 22 exposed but unprocessed photographic negatives, frozen in a solid block of ice for nearly one hundred years.

Toby Keith restaurant in Va. bans guns, sparks uproar  —  WOODBRIDGE, Va. - A new restaurant that recently opened in Woodbridge is sparking a Second Amendment controversy, especially online.  —  The restaurant named for country music star Toby Keith has posted a “ No guns permitted” …

Gohmert: Administration Has To Keep Susan Rice Close So She 'Doesn't Spill The Beans On What All She Knows'  —  Rep. Louie Gohmert with another round of wingnut conspiracy theories.  —  The talking heads over at Fox “news” are terribly upset that the United States is talking to the Iranians instead …

Anelka's ‘Nazi’ salute storm: Striker could face lengthy FA ban for offensive goal celebration along with sanctions in France  —  Controversial striker Nicolas Anelka is to be the subject of a Football Association investigation after allegations that he used an anti-Semitic gesture to celebrate …

Redistribute wealth?  No, redistribute respect.  —  “It is said that heaven does not create one man above or below another man.”  — Yukichi Fukuzawa  —  I've always been a communist revolutionary at heart.  Inequalities between human beings have always annoyed me, and I have the strong desire to see them eliminated.

3 key ideas from what will be one of the most important books of 2014  —  I am fortunate enough to have already previewed The Second Machine Age by MIT's Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, out next month.  It is an excellent expansion of the thesis outlined in their monograph and Kindle Single, Race Against the Machine.

Life Under Russia's ‘Gay Propaganda’ Ban  —  The Russian port city Arkhangelsk (population 350,000) is on the White Sea, 1,230 kilometers north of Moscow.  A key Allied supply line to the Soviets in both world wars, it was also the departure point for the first Soviet gulag.

Paul Ryan lectures the pope  —  The Catholic conservative who insists he cares about the poor says Pope Francis doesn't understand capitalism  —  When 1.3 million Americans lose their unemployment benefits on Saturday, they can thank Rep. Paul Ryan.  He took the lead in negotiating …