Reid says jobless aid vote coming Monday  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told The Associated Press in an interview that the Senate will vote Monday on a three-month extension of federal unemployment benefits.  —  Calling the House a “black hole of legislation,” …

ObamaCare birth control mandate halted for Catholic group  —  Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor late Tuesday halted a birth control mandate in ObamaCare for a Catholic group, one day before parts of the health care law are set to go into effect.  —  In her order, Sotomayor said the government …

What your favorite drink says about your politics, in one chart  —  Former Mississippi governor and uber-Republican Haley Barbour loves bourbon.  Franklin Roosevelt mixed martinis.  And, as it turns out, those two partisans have something in common with their base voters …

MSNBC Panel Was Mocking Republicans, Not Mitt Romney's Black Grandchild  —  Melissa Harris-Perry is apologizing for something that she didn't do wrong.  A photo of the Romney family with a black baby on Mitt's knee was the subject of a panel discussion on Perry's MSNBC show.  But no one was slighting the baby.

Former first lady Barbara Bush hospitalized  —  (CNN) — Former first lady Barbara Bush has been hospitalized in Houston, Texas, for treatment of a “respiratory-related issue,” a family spokesman said Tuesday.  —  Bush, 88, was admitted Monday at Methodist Hospital, spokesman Jim McGrath said in a written statement.

Rescue Efforts for Trapped Antarctic Voyage Disrupt Serious Science  —  Early this morning, I received an e-mail message from one of many polar scientists whose important and costly field research in Antarctica has been seriously disrupted by the diversion of icebreakers to try to evacuate the journalists …

Pot Shops in Denver Open Door to $578 Million in Sales  —  Toni Fox plans to open the doors of her Denver marijuana shop at 8 a.m. tomorrow to a line of customers including some who camped overnight to be the first in the U.S. to legally buy pot for recreational use.

Kim Jong-un's Lonely Ski Lift Ride at Dream Resort  —  After pushing for his dream ski resort, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un finally rode the lift at Masik Pass Ski Resort, which only took one year to build from scratch.  Sanctions didn't stop him from that ride.

Judge Orders ‘Compassionate Release’ Of Jailed Former Civil Rights Lawyer  —  NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -A federal judge in Manhattan ordered a “compassionate release” Tuesday from prison for a dying former civil rights lawyer.  —  The U.S. government requested the release earlier …

Animal-Rights Activists Bully Dying Italian Girl  —  How one terminally ill student's Facebook post triggered a wave of hate mail and death threats from European animal-rights activists.  —  When 25-year-old veterinary student Caterina Simonsen posted an update on a Facebook page supporting …

Home Depot founder worries Pope Francis neither loves nor understands rich Americans  —  In an interview on CNBC on Monday, Home Depot founder and devout Catholic Ken Langone said that the Pope's statements about capitalism have left many potential “capitalist benefactors” wary of donating to the Church or its fundraising projects.