A Startlingly Simple Theory About the Missing Malaysia Airlines Jet  —  There has been a lot of speculation about Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.  Terrorism, hijacking, meteors.  I cannot believe the analysis on CNN; it's almost disturbing.  I tend to look for a simpler explanation …

Romney: The Price of Failed Leadership  —  The President's failure to act when action was possible has diminished respect for the U.S. and made troubles worse.

The rich strike back  —  NEW YORK — Just a few months ago, it looked like 2014 would be the year of the populist, with Democrats running on economic inequality, tea party Republicans bashing banks and newly minted New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio pledging to soak the rich with higher taxes.

Crimea secedes.  So what?  —  Residents of Crimea voted over the weekend on whether they would remain an autonomous region of Ukraine or join the Russian Federation.  In so doing, they joined a number of countries and regions — including recently Scotland, Catalonia and Venice …

NSA surveillance program reaches ‘into the past’ to retrieve, replay phone calls  —  The National Security Agency has built a surveillance system capable of recording “100 percent” of a foreign country's telephone calls, enabling the agency to rewind and review conversations as long as a month …

RNC Chair: ‘Tsunami’ Election Coming, Especially In The Senate  —  The way Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus sees it, 2014 won't be an average election for the party out of power.  It'll be a “tsunami” wave election.  —  At a Christian Science Monitor Breakfast …

The Toxins That Threaten Our Brains  —  Leading scientists recently identified a dozen chemicals as being responsible for widespread behavioral and cognitive problems.  But the scope of the chemical dangers in our environment is likely even greater.  Why children and the poor are most susceptible …

2 die in news helicopter crash at KOMO-TV  —  Firefighters stand next to the site where a KOMO TV helicopter fell to the ground during take-off this morning (Photo by Brian Rosenthal / The Seattle Times)  —  At least two people died this morning when a KOMO-TV helicopter crashed on the street outside Fisher Plaza.

White House's Top Pastry Chef to Leave Post  —  WASHINGTON — The first lady, Michelle Obama, is soon to lose her executive pastry chef, Bill Yosses.  And she is partly to blame.  —  She has piqued his interest in the relationship between food and health, he said in a recent telephone interview …

Don't Tell Ruth Ginsburg to Retire  —  If Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had followed advice from male law professors like me, she would probably not be where she is today.  —  Her entire career has involved defying expectations and forcing her way into places where she did not “belong” …

Are Transponders the Main Problem?  In a Word, No  —  My friend and colleague Gregg Easterbrook has an op-ed in the NYT today saying that one big lesson of the 9/11 attacks, which should be re-learned because of the Malaysia 370 mystery, is that pilots should not be able to turn off the transponders in their planes.

GOP Lawmaker Says Sick Leave, Equal Pay Bills Make Women ‘Look Like Whiners’  —  Minnesota Women Whiners Minnesota Whiners Andrea Keiffer Whiners Minnesota Womens Economic Security Act Politics News  —  A package of bills in Minnesota that would enhance women's economic security by raising the minimum wage …

Obama to Hispanics: We won't deport relatives because you enroll in ObamaCare  —  President Obama on Tuesday sought to assure legal immigrants that they can sign up for ObamaCare without worrying that “the immigration people” will come for family members who are in the country illegally.

Bill de Blasio's war for poverty  —  This year, many on the left are celebrating 50 years since President Lyndon Johnson declared his War on Poverty — an era that saw the creation of massive new government programs that liberals proclaimed would raise living standards for the poor.

Do Moms Who Work Less Have Healthier Babies?  —  Pregnant women and their newborns tend to be healthier when the economy is worse, a new study shows.  Why?  —  Imagine you lived in Barcelona and lost your job, like thousands of Spaniards did each year of the most recent recession.

PUTIN'S POWER PLAY  —  Vladimir Putin, in his campaign to restore Russian dominance over post-Soviet states, has an unconventional weapon in his arsenal: vast supplies of natural gas.  In 2006 and 2009, Gazprom, the Russian gas company, cut off supplies to Ukraine (the second time, this created shortages in Europe, too).

America Is Too Broke to Rescue Ukraine  —  The real contest between Russia and the West involves economics, not military might.  —  If only America were fighting more wars, Russia would never have taken Crimea.  That's basically the argument John McCain made last Friday in The New York Times.

Paul Broun spends $33k in office cash on rhetoric coach  —  U.S. Rep. Paul Broun has spent $33,000 of his congressional office budget over the last two years on a specialist in rhetorical skills, according to the above clip from Justin Gray of Channel 2 Action News.  —  The video focuses on the expenditure of taxpayer dollars.

Christie faces pushback; defends conservative credentials  —  South River, New Jersey (CNN) - Gov. Chris Christie ignored a loud ensemble of hecklers at a town hall Tuesday, but didn't hold back when a health care insurance advocate confronted the New Jersey Republican and accused …

Colorado Senate Close, Hickenlooper grows lead  —  PPP's newest Colorado poll finds that the Senate race remains very competitive, although not that much closer with Cory Gardner in the race than it was with Ken Buck.  Our last poll of the state, in early December, found Mark Udall leading Buck by 4 points.