For Columnist, a Change of Tone  —  A New York Times columnist has expressed substantially more negative sentiments about FiveThirtyEight since it left The New York Times, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.  —  The columnist, Paul Krugman, who writes about economics and politics for The Times …

The Indictment Against Leland Yee Puts “The Wire's” Clay Davis to Shame  —  Sheeeeeeeeeit, partner.  —  If you thought the charges against Leland Yee would be bad, you had no idea.  As in, he offered to set up an arms deal with Islamic rebels for $2 million in cash.  As in, he has ties to a gangster named Shrimp Boy.

Reid will refund campaign for purchases from granddaughter's business  —  WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) plans to reimburse his campaign more than $16,000 for purchasing holiday gifts from his granddaughter's jewelry business.  —  The Federal Election Commission …

Official Said He Told Christie of Lane Closings, Bridge Scandal Report Says  —  The Port Authority official who oversaw the lane closings at the George Washington Bridge said that he had informed Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey about it at a Sept. 11 memorial while the closings were occurring …

Despite ‘wake-up call’ in Ukraine, Europe reluctant to bolster its militaries  —  LONDON — After years of watching as defense cuts sliced away at the army he once led, Richard Dannatt decided Russia's thrust into Ukraine marked the right moment to start rebuilding the British military.

Oversight Dems To Issa: Drop The Charade And Let's Do Some Real Work  —  All 17 Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are calling on Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) to cease his “partisan investigation” into the deadly September 2012 attack in Benghazi …

Matthew Yglesias is Juice Vox Media's Village Idiot and Liar-in-Chief  —  Well, now we know why the Washington Post did not want to invest in Ezra Klein's “explanatory journalism” nonsense.  Turns out it is just a left-wing propaganda tool trying to spin instead of explain.

Federal Judge Tells Women Lawyers Not To Dress Like ‘An Ignorant Slut’  —  Judge Richard Kopf, a George H.W. Bush appointee to a federal court in Nebraska, offered some strange advice to women litigators in a piece posted to his personal blog on Tuesday: don't wear clothing that would cause …

The Individual Mandate Goes Poof  —  The latest delays show that the supposed centerpiece of ObamaCare won't cause the uninsured to buy coverage.  —  One by one, the myths of the Affordable Care Act have been revealed.  When the curtain on open enrollment falls on March 31 …

Conservatives Are Taking the Gun Fight to Knives  —  This week, the Tennessee General Assembly repealed the state's long-standing ban on switchblades, or, as their purveyors like to call them “automatic knives.”  It was one more victory for the nascent knife-rights movement …

Disapproval of Obama climbs to new high  —  Nearly six in 10 people disapprove of President Obama's job performance in a new poll by the Associated Press, the highest rating recorded by the newswire.  —  According to the AP-GFK survey released Wednesday, 59 percent disapprove of Obama's job performance while 41 percent approve.

Economist Tyler Cowen Pepper Sprayed While Teaching Class at George Mason University  —  Economist, author, and George Mason University (GMU) professor Tyler Cowen was pepper sprayed in his classroom today by a man trying to place him under citizen's arrest.

Rand Paul builds 50-state network, courts mainstream support for presidential bid  —  Sen. Rand Paul has become the first Republican to assemble a network in all 50 states as a precursor to a 2016 presidential run, the latest sign that he is looking to build a more mainstream coalition …

Putting Their Eggs in the Wrong Midterm Basket  —  Why Democrats' increased reliance on young voters may lead them to struggle in midterm elections in the near future  —  Barring significant changes in group voting habits, many commentators have argued that “The Coalition of the Ascendant” …

Giving Up on 4-Year-Olds  —  A new report released by the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, examining the disciplinary practices of the country's 97,000 public schools, shows that excessively punitive policies are being used at every level of the public school system — even against 4-year-olds in preschool.

Homeless Mother Gets Job Interview But Doesn't Have Childcare, Ends Up In Jail  —  CREDIT: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office  —  Shanesha Taylor, a woman from Scottsdale, Arizona, is homeless.  So when she got asked to come in for a job interview last Thursday, she must have been excited by the prospect.

The Effect of Medical Marijuana Laws on Crime: Evidence from State Panel Data, 1990-2006  —  Abstract  —  Background  —  Debate has surrounded the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes for decades.  Some have argued medical marijuana legalization (MML) poses a threat to public health and safety …