Court Backs Michigan on Affirmative Action  —  WASHINGTON — In a fractured decision that revealed deep divisions over what role the judiciary should play in protecting racial and ethnic minorities, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a Michigan constitutional amendment that bans affirmative action …

U.S. sending troops to Eastern Europe  —  The U.S. is sending about 600 ground troops to Eastern Europe this week to “reassure” allies there as Washington resumes its campaign of pressure on Russia over the Ukraine standoff.  —  About 150 soldiers from the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team …

An open letter to the students of Azusa Pacific University  —  I was scheduled to speak to you tomorrow.  I was going to talk about my new book, “The Curmudgeon's Guide to Getting Ahead,” and was looking forward to it.  But it has been “postponed.”  Why?  An email from your president …

The American Middle Class Is No Longer the World's Richest  —  The American middle class, long the most affluent in the world, has lost that distinction.  —  While the wealthiest Americans are outpacing many of their global peers, a New York Times analysis shows that across the lower …

Aaron Sorkin Wants To Apologize To Everyone About “The Newsroom”  —  “I think you and I got off on the wrong foot with The Newsroom and I apologize and I'd like to start over,” the creator told an audience at a Tribeca Film Festival event on Monday.  —  Aaron Sorkin with Jon Favreau at the Tribeca Film Festival on Monday, April 21.

GOP poll defies tide on gay marriage  —  Two conservative groups are pushing back on moves by the GOP to drop opposition to same-sex marriage from party platforms, releasing a poll of base voters taken last month that found in favor of defining marriage “only” as between a man and a woman.

BLM EYES 90,000 ACRES OF TEXAS LAND  —  After the recent Bundy Ranch episode by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Texans are becoming more concerned about the BLM's focus on 90,000 acres along a 116 mile stretch of the Texas/Oklahoma boundary.  The BLM is reviewing the possible federal takeover …

Rep. Eagle releases statement after DUI arrest  —  State Rep. Dane Eagle was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence early Monday in Tallahassee, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.  —  Court documents show Tallahassee Police first spotted Eagle (R-Cape Coral) pulling out of a Taco Bell on West Tennessee Street.

Media Matters Chief Tells Sharyl Attkisson To Put Up Or Shut Up  —  The head of Media Matters for America challenged former CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson on Monday to produce evidence that the liberal media watchdog has been paid to target her.  —  “Professional journalists …

Professor: ‘Racist, misogynist, money-grubbing people’ want to stop blacks, Latinos from voting  — Brent Terry, professor at Eastern Connecticut State University, told his class that a GOP victory will turn America into a"very different kind of country," “colleges will start closing up.”

First on CNN: 15 cities in running for 2016 Democratic Convention  —  Washington (CNN) - The Democratic Party has asked 15 mayors to submit formal bids to host the 2016 Democratic National Convention, an event that could cost a city as much as $60 million but the payout could be triple the investment or more.

The New Abolitionism  —  Averting planetary disaster will mean forcing fossil fuel companies to give up at least $10 trillion in wealth.  —  Before the cannons fired at Fort Sumter, the Confederates announced their rebellion with lofty rhetoric about “violations of the Constitution of the United States” …

John Boozman Undergoes Emergency Heart Surgery  —  U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-Arkansas) is recovering in a Rogers hospital after undergoing heart surgery Tuesday morning.  —  Boozman, 63, was taken to the Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas emergency room by ambulance.

Ex-CEO Wins Republican Primary for Radel's Seat  —  The former CEO of an aluminum wheel company has won a Republican primary in Florida for the seat of a congressman who resigned in January after being arrested for buying cocaine.  —  With 96 percent of precincts counted …

The Spread of ‘Debate is Over’ Syndrome  —  Appearing in:  —  Orange County Register  —  The ongoing trial involving journalist Mark Steyn - accused of defaming climate change theorist Michael Mann - reflects an increasingly dangerous tendency among our intellectual classes to embrace homogeneity of viewpoint.

Red States Hatch Plans To Block Obamacare Even If Dems Take Over  —  Republicans are taking no chances when it comes to Obamacare's Medicaid expansion.  They're closing every possible door.  Under bills passed in Georgia and Kansas recently, even if a Democratic candidate were to pull off …

Incumbent Southern Democrats Are Less Vulnerable Than You Might Think  —  Democrats' hopes of keeping their Senate majority this November may well hinge on the ability of three of their incumbents to hold onto their seats deep in enemy territory: the South.  To take the Senate and consolidate …

Romney gives $10,000 to McDonnell's legal defense fund  —  Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, has made a personal donation of $10,000 to former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell's legal defense fund, a Romney aide confirmed Tuesday.  —  McDonnell and his wife …

Who Will Win The Senate? … Every day, our computer churns through the latest polls and reams of historical data to calculate both parties' chances of winning control of the Senate.  Although the Democrats currently have a 51 percent chance, that doesn't mean we're predicting the Democrats …

Elites' Sacrificial Victims  —  Why do our well-meaning elites so often worry about humanity in the abstract rather than the real effects of their cosmic ideologies on the majority?  The dream of universal health coverage trumped the nightmare of millions of lives disrupted by the implementation of it.

Marionville mayor resigns  —  Marionville Mayor Dan Clevenger resigned Monday night for making anti-Semitic comments in the wake of the arrest of white supremacist Frazier Glenn Miller and after aldermen voted 4-1 to start the impeachment process.  —  Clevenger, 59, said he was personally hurt …

How the world failed on climate change  —  It was the early 1990s.  Climate scientists had long known that humans were warming up the planet.  But politicians were just beginning to grasp that it would take a huge coordinated effort to get nations to burn fewer fossil fuels and avoid sharp temperature increases in the decades ahead.