Robert Gates, former defense secretary, offers harsh critique of Obama's leadership in ‘Duty’  —  In a new memoir, former defense secretary Robert Gates unleashes harsh judgments about President Obama's leadership and his commitment to the Afghanistan war, writing that by early 2010 …

House GOP leaders coach rank-and-file on discussing unemployment  —  House Republican leaders sent a memo this week to the entire GOP conference with talking points designed to help rank-and-file Republicans show compassion for the unemployed and explain the Republican position on unemployment benefits.

Rush Limbaugh's Polar Vortex ‘Hoax’ Comments Knocked Down By Weatherman (VIDEO)  —  Rush Limbaugh made headlines Monday when he called the “polar vortex” of dangerously cold conditions sweeping across the Midwest a “hoax,” but now an actual weatherman is saying otherwise.

Daisy Coleman hospitalized in Kansas City after suicide attempt  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Maryville Mo., teenager, who has been at the center of a rape case which made national headlines, was in a Kansas City hospital on Monday night after attempting to take her own life.

Biography Casts Critical Light on Fox News Chief  —  Roger Ailes was so eager to influence national politics that in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, he told fellow Fox News executives point-blank: “I want to elect the next president.”  —  In the corporate thicket of News Corporation …

Navy mistakenly sends FOIA plans to reporter  —  The Unites States Navy inadvertently sent a memo to a local NBC News reporter this week detailing how it intended to try and deter requests he had filed under the Freedom Of Information Act.  —  Scott MacFarlane, a reporter for NBC 4 in Washington …

Former Guantanamo detainee implicated in Benghazi attack  —  U.S. officials suspect that a former Guantanamo Bay detainee played a role in the attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, and are planning to designate the group he leads as a foreign terrorist organization …

How value judgments cloud social thought.  —  City Journal's Kay Hymowitz weighed in over the holidays with a response to our Dec. 16 column, in which we faulted the premise of her earlier article titled “Boy Trouble.”  She maintains that the main body of the article (which we described as …

Melissa Harris-Perry and the Contrition Complex  —  A glance at the fraying tethers of our civic culture almost invites a nostalgia for the days when we imagined our troubles were a neatly bilateral conflict between red states and blue ones.  These days, we have the civic amity of feuding rappers.

Pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC posts substantial 2013 fundraising haul  —  Washington (CNN) - Who says you need a candidate to raise a bundle of cash?  —  Ready for Hillary, the grassroots Super PAC urging former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to run for president in 2016 …

Obamacare ads to hit the Olympic slopes  —  The Obama administration is planning an Olympic-size ad blitz to push health coverage during the Winter Games next month.  —  The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Tuesday that it has bought advertising time in markets with high rates …

What happened to US life expectancy?  —  Here's another chart from the JAMA study “The Anatomy of Health Care in the United States”:  —  Why did the US fall behind the OECD median in the mid-1980s for men and the early 1990s for women?  Note, the answer need not point to the health system.

Uncertainty in Utah as Appeals Process Plays Out Over Gay Marriage  —  SALT LAKE CITY — Ever since it was a distant Western territory straining for statehood, Utah has been entwined in battles over what makes a marriage.  —  Before Congress would allow Utah to join the union …

Google Launches Private SF Bay Ferry Service To Shuttle Workers  —  REDWOOD CITY (CBS SF) - Just as Bay Area high-tech firms such as Google have been using private shuttle buses to transport their workers to their jobs, Google is taking it to another level with its own ferry service on San Francisco Bay.

Wall of Separation  —  Has The ‘Ark Park’ Run Aground?:  Ky. Biblical Theme Park Has Only Weeks To Raise Millions  —  The drama surrounding Kentucky's infamous “Ark Park” may soon be at an end amid reports that the biblical theme park is running out of time to raise the money it needs to get afloat.

Michael Bloomberg gives $2.5M to Senate Majority PAC  —  Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg donated $2.5 million to a super PAC aimed at helping Senate Democrats maintain their majority, a potentially significant development that could have a big impact in 2014.

Agency rejects trademark of ‘Redskins Hog Rinds,’ calling term ‘derogatory’  —  The same federal agency that will determine whether Washington's professional football team gets to keep its trademark registration recently struck down a request for a company to sell pork rinds with the name “Redskins.”