Unsealed email ties Scott Walker to secret email system  —  By Patrick Marley, Daniel Bice and Bill Glauber of the Journal Sentinel  —  Madison — Included in more than 27,000 emails unsealed Wednesday is one that for the first time directly ties Gov. Scott Walker to a secret email system used …

Juror in ‘Loud Music’ Trial Wanted Murder Conviction … A juror in the controversial Florida “loud music” trial says there was no chance from the start of a murder conviction in the shooting of an unarmed teen at a gas station because several jurors were convinced Michael Dunn acted in self-defense.

VW workers may block southern U.S. deals if no unions: labor chief  —  (Reuters) - Volkswagen's top labor representative threatened on Wednesday to try to block further investments by the German carmaker in the southern United States if its workers there are not unionized.

What's Happening in Kiev Right Now Is Vladimir Putin's Worst Nightmare  —  I will not explain to you what is happening in Kiev tonight other than to say that it is Vladimir Putin's worst nightmare.  —  The last time that this many people came out to the Independence Square (the Maidan) …

Whip-wielding Russian Cossacks attack Pussy Riot members near Sochi Olympics  —  SOCHI, Russia — Members of the performance-art group Pussy Riot were attacked on a public plaza Wednesday by Cossacks brandishing whips and discharging pepper spray, a day after police picked them up and held them for nearly four hours without charges.

Why Gap Is Raising Its Minimum Wage To $10  —  Clothing retailer Gap, Inc. announced Wednesday that it will raise its hourly minimum wage to $10, a change that will affect 65,000 U.S. employees.  GAP employees who are now earning the minimum wage will make $9.00 in June of 2014 and $10 in June of 2015.

Poll: Cotton gains edge over Pryor, Ross and Hutchinson remain tied  —  A recent poll shows U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Dardanelle, gaining ground in his bid to unseat Democrat U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor.  The poll results also show the Arkansas' governors race to be tied up, and U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin …

George W. Bush: ‘I miss Air Force One’  —  Former President George W. Bush said Wednesday that there isn't much he misses about being president, except for one big perk.  —  “A lot of people ask me, you know, do I miss much about being president,” Bush said.  “The answer's really no. I mean I miss the people I served with.

New Confederate license plate brings skirmishes  —  Georgia's new license plate commemorating the Sons of the Confederacy features the Confederate battle flag more prominently than in the prior design.  The emblem, incorrectly referred to in popular culture as the “Confederate flag,” …

The Endless Third-Party Fantasy  —  Since third-party fantasies reemerge every time there is evidence Americans hold their elected officials in minimum high regard, Brendan Nyhan provides a public service with a compendium of “here comes a third party!” predictions dating back to 2005.

Texas, it starts with you!  —  2014 is here.  The choices are becoming clearer, and the battle lines are being drawn.  The GOP Beltway crowd has convinced itself that the way to maintain or retake the majority is through compromise and capitulation on important issues like amnesty, Obamacare, and the ever-increasing federal debt.

More Americans Now View Afghanistan War as a Mistake  —  Republicans most likely to say the war was not a mistake  —  PRINCETON, NJ — For the first time since the U.S. initially became involved in Afghanistan in 2001, Americans are as likely to say U.S. military involvement there was a mistake as to say it was not.

Iowa Newspaper Drops Brent Bozell's Column, Nobody Complains  —  Nobody seemed to mind when an Iowa newspaper dropped Brent Bozell's syndicated column from its pages last weekend.  —  The Quad-City Times announced Saturday that it will no longer run the column after it was revealed …

Our Decadent Elites  —  Watching Season 2 of “House of Cards.”  Not to be a scold or humorless, but do Washington politicians understand how they make themselves look when they embrace the show and become part of its promotion by spouting its famous lines?  Congressmen only work three days a week.

Another Chance for the Justices to Say No to Prosecutorial Misconduct  —  Virginia prosecutors hid exculpatory evidence and defied a federal judge in a death-penalty case.  Will the Supreme Court let them get away with it?  —  Justice Sonia Sotomayor is one of only two* current members …

Ex-Con Ex-Governor Running for Congress  —  You're wrong if you think politics couldn't get saucier in Louisiana, where the ex-Democratic mayor of New Orleans was just convicted for bribery and the religious-right-supporting senator who got caught with hookers is a favorite to win the governorship …

Utah lawmaker: Our atmosphere needs more carbon dioxide  —  Air quality » Bill would exempt CO2 and other “natural” gases from regulation.  —  | The Salt Lake Tribune  —  Arguing that we need more carbon dioxide, not less, in the atmosphere, Rep. Jerry Anderson, R-Price …

Attorney: Teen was shot for having Wii controller in hand  —  EUHARLEE, Ga. —  The family of a 17-year-old shot and killed by a Euharlee police officer has hired an attorney, and they say he had a remote control in his hand.  They say it was not a gun.

Will the Roberts Court Follow Its Own Religious-Freedom Precedent?  —  The cases challenging the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate challenge the conservative majority on the Court: Will they respect precedent if it pushes them toward upholding the mandate, or brush by it in their eagerness to carve out a religious exception?

READING THE NUMBERS  —  Last week's report about the declining abortion rate in the United States was potentially good news for everyone, especially, one would think, for right-to-life groups.  Most of them, though, weren't cheering.  A statement from Americans United for Life called the report …

Candidate For Orange County GOP Chairman Arrested On Assault Charge After Dispute At Polling Place  —  ORANGE COUNTY - A candidate for Orange County GOP Chairman was arrested Tuesday and released from jail on a $1,000 personal recognizance bond after he was charged with assaulting a man at an early voting location.

‘We need the iPhone of guns’: Will smart guns transform the gun industry?  —  Video: Not long ago, smart guns — personalized weapons that only fired for authorized users — were seen only in the movies.  Today, after millions of dollars and more than 10 years of research, there are finally smart guns for the public.

Hillary Clinton surfaces as issue in Republican Senate race  —  Columbia, South Carolina (CNN) - Each one of Lindsey Graham's five underfunded Republican primary opponents have been struggling to gain traction in the race and emerge as the South Carolina senator's leading conservative opponent.

Judge throws out Nebraska pipeline law, complicating Keystone XL plans  —  LINCOLN, Neb. — A Nebraska judge has declared unconstitutional a 2012 law that gave the governor and state environmental regulators the authority to approve oil pipeline routes, throwing yet another obstacle in the path of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Repeal of Missouri's Background Check Law Associated with Increase in State's Murders  —  Missouri's 2007 repeal of its permit-to-purchase (PTP) handgun law, which required all handgun purchasers to obtain a license verifying that they have passed a background check, contributed …