Anatomy of a media disaster: Why the press is botching the latest Obamacare story  —  Mix of innumeracy, vulnerability to spin and thirst for controversy explains lame coverage of CBO Obamacare report  —  Twenty-four hours later, after a tremendous swell of misinformation …

Senate GOP buoyant about midterms  —  Politics was at the forefront of Republicans senators' minds at their annual retreat on Wednesday.  —  After hearing from a congressional handicapper and conservative observers at the Library of Congress, there's growing optimism among GOP lawmakers …

How John Podesta is changing Obama's White House  —  John Podesta doesn't have a standing appointment with President Barack Obama.  He doesn't join chief of staff Denis McDonough for the nightly “wrap” meeting with the president.  He doesn't have a defined portfolio of assignments.

Days ahead for Dems not so dark  —  When one has retired from the ranks of American domestic political consulting, as I have, you are not really allowed to just quit.  You become emeritus, of counsel, senior status and God knows what.  Basically your role becomes one of trying …

Olympic Threat: US Warns Airlines About Toothpaste Tube Bomb … The Department of Homeland Security has issued a warning to U.S. and some foreign airlines traveling to Russia for the Olympic Games to be on the lookout for toothpaste containers, which some intelligence indicates …

Head of Mormon church Thomas Monson summoned by British magistrates' court over Adam and Eve teaching  —  Thomas S Monson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ordered to appear before British magistrate's court amid claims that the organisation's teaching amounts to ‘fraud’

Karl Rove: The Numbers That Scare Senate Democrats  —  Voting with Obama 97% of the time is going to end some careers.

Romney floats Martinez, others for 2016  —  Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Wednesday expanded his list of possible 2016 GOP presidential candidates — floating a number of dark horses, including New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R).  —  Romney named a laundry list …

Realistic statue of man in his underwear at Wellesley College sparks controversy  —  Tony Matelli's Sleepwalker, is part of an art exhibit at Wellesley College's Davis Museum.  —  By Jaclyn Reiss, Boston.com Staff  —  A realistic-looking statue of a man sleepwalking in his underwear near …

The Worst Idea in the World  —  Five years after the Bolshevik Revolution, Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises predicted that the Soviet project was doomed to fail.  In his classic work Socialism, Mises explained that the attempt to replace the market system with central economic planning could not succeed …

Work was supposed to be liberating.  Now nonwork is.  —  Annie Lowrey, an economics reporter for the New York Times, has an essay in this coming weekend's Times magazine rebutting what she calls “the policy solution du jour” to the problem of “how to alleviate poverty”—namely, “marriage promotion.”

Just Say No  —  President Obama indicated in his State of the Union address last week that he will exercise his admittedly limited executive powers in this “year of action.”  Though most of the mild proposals he made are welcome, one still wonders why he doesn't say “no” more often.

The Koch Brothers Left a Confidential Document at Their Last Donor Conference—Read It Here  —  A list of one-on-one meetings between VIP donors and the Kochs and their operatives offers a revealing look into their mighty political machine.  —  Charles Koch: Bo Rader/ZUMA; David Koch: Sonia Moskowitz/ZUMA

Republican Hedges His Bets by Targeting House Seats in 4 States  —  There have been a fair share of congressional carpetbaggers in history, but Allan Levene may be the first to assemble an entire set of matched luggage.  And he's using it to run this year for no fewer than four open House seats in four different states.

22 Messages From Creationists To People Who Believe In Evolution  —  I asked 22 self-identifying creationists at the Bill Nye/Ken Ham debate to write a message/question/note to the other side.  Here's what they wrote.  —  1.  —  Matt Stopera / BuzzFeed  —  2.  —  Matt Stopera / BuzzFeed

Racing to Save the Stray Dogs of Sochi  —  SOCHI, Russia — A dog shelter backed by a Russian billionaire is engaged in a frantic last-ditch effort to save hundreds of strays facing a death sentence before the Winter Olympics begin here.  —  Already, hundreds of animals have been killed …