Putin's Ukraine Gambit  —  Henry Kissinger once pointed out that since Peter the Great, Russia had been expanding at the rate of one Belgium per year.  All undone, of course, by the collapse of the Soviet Union, which Russian president Vladimir Putin called “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century.”

Noonan: America and the Aggressive Left  —  Half the country feels—and is—beset by government.  That's not progress.  —  The constant mischief of the progressive left is hurting the nation's morale.  There are few areas of national life left in which they are not busy, and few in which they're not making it worse.

Dem senators push IRS to cap political activity  —  A group of Democratic senators urged the Obama administration on Thursday to cap the amount of political activity that tax-exempt 501(c)(4) groups can engage in at 5 to 15 percent.  —  The 15 senators, in public comments on a proposed regulation change …

The fight for Mitt Romney's donors is on  —  Mitt Romney knows how to raise money.  He collected more than $1.1 billion in the 2012 campaign, relying on contacts he built during his time as Massachusetts governor, head of the Salt Lake City Olympics, years working in private equity …

Changes (Personal/Professional)  —  Some news: I have informed Princeton that I will be retiring at the end of next academic year, that is, in June 2015.  In August 2015 I will join the faculty of the Graduate Center, City University of New York, as a professor in the Ph.D. program in economics.

Larry Summers Nails The Radical Economic Implications of The Facebook-WhatsApp Mega-Deal  —  Larry Summers gave a speech today at the National Association For Business Economics (NABE) conference in Arlington Virginia.  —  In his speech he said some really sharp stuff about the significance of WhatsApp …

Senate Democrats block Republican move to expel Rod Wright  —  Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a move to expel their Democratic colleague Sen. Rod Wright by sending a Republican proposal to the Rules Committee, where it could permanently stall.  —  Sen. Steve Knight, a Republican from Palmdale …

Outrage Over Sexist Remarks Turns Into a Political Fund-Raising Tool  —  In the past few months, Republicans have called Wendy Davis, a Democratic candidate for Texas governor, “Abortion Barbie,” likened Alison Lundergan Grimes, a Senate candidate from Kentucky, to an “empty dress,” …

O'Reilly To Valerie Jarrett: Get ‘Gangsta Rappers’ To ‘Knock It Off’ (VIDEO)  —  Fox News host Bill O'Reilly on Thursday advised Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett to get “gangsta rappers” like Jay Z and Kanye West to say their behavior is wrong if the White House really wants to improve minority communities.

‘I was given every s*** job in the world by Obama’: Biden makes astonishing revelations about his relationship with the President as it's claimed he was ‘frozen out’ by White House over gay gaffe  — Vice President Joe Biden reveals he willingly took the President's more ‘bothersome’ tasks …

Kerry Kennedy Is Found Not Guilty of Driving While Impaired  —  WHITE PLAINS — After nearly 20 months of buildup, the misdemeanor trial of Kerry Kennedy ended on Friday in a breakneck blur, as jurors took one hour to find her not guilty of driving under the influence of a drug.

Wall Street threatens GOP on bank tax  —  Wall Street is warning Washington Republicans: the money spigot is turning off.  —  Rep. Dave Camp's tax proposal - which jacked up taxes on banks and threatens the bottom line of some major private equity players in New York - has infuriated donors in high-finance.

Four of five FCC study authors gave to Obama  —  BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL BARACK OBAMA FCC  —  A significant problem with the now-suspended Federal Communications Commission plan to have government contractors question journalists about editorial decisions and practices was that it was a partisan exercise.

SENATE REPUBLICANS KILL A BILL TO EXPAND VETERANS' BENEFITS … WASHINGTON — It's not until you watch it happen close up that the way things do not get done in the World's Legislative Body becomes well and truly nauseating.  This afternoon, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont brought forth …

911 audio released from Fort Lee traffic jam  —  (CNN) - Officials in Fort Lee, New Jersey released 911 audio Friday from the week in September when two out of three access lanes were closed to the George Washington Bridge, ultimately causing massive traffic gridlock across the city for four days …

Mt. Gox Files for Bankruptcy  —  TOKYO — Mt. Gox, the troubled exchange for the virtual currency Bitcoin, filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday and said that it might have lost all of its customers' coins in a hacking attack.  —  The Tokyo-based exchange, which warned earlier this month …

Syrian extremists amputated a man's hand and live-tweeted it  —  The extremist Syrian group deemed too radical even for al-Qaeda performed what may have been a Twitter first Friday: live-tweeting the amputation of a hand.  —  The amputation took place in the remote rural town of Maskaneh …

Report: Checks stop 2.1M gun buys  —  Federal background checks have stopped more than 2.1 million would-be gun purchases in the 20 years since President Bill Clinton signed the Brady gun control bill, according to a report released Friday by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

America plays its role in a changing world right  —  As America navigates a changing world, the people who seem to be having the greatest difficulty with the adjustment are the country's pundits.  Over the past few weeks, a new conventional wisdom has congealed on the op-ed pages …