Boehner's Epic Burn  —  You may have seen that Israeli officials announced this evening that US House Speaker John Boehner will leave at the end of March for a 10 day victory tour through Israel.  The trip, purportedly, was planned during Netanyahu's visit to Washington earlier this month …

First on CNN: FBI, federal prosecutors investigating Aaron Schock  —  Washington (CNN)The FBI and the federal prosecutors in Illinois are investigating whether Rep. Aaron Schock broke the law in accounting for campaign expenses, according to people familiar with the matter.

How I unfairly maligned two Secret Service agents in POLITICO Magazine  —  It seemed like a refrain: News reports surfaced on March 11 about an incident at the White House involving drunken Secret Service agents.  The first accounts suggested that the agents' conduct was egregious and even cartoonish.

California proposal to legalize killing gays hard to stop  —  ›  —  ‹  —  For less than the cost of an Apple iPad, Matt McLaughlin started a statewide legal conversation.  —  An attorney from Huntington Beach, McLaughlin in late February spent $200 to propose a ballot measure …

Interior Department Releases Final Rule to Support Safe, Responsible Hydraulic Fracturing Activities on Public and Tribal Lands  —  Fundamental Standards Address Well Integrity, Water Protection, Disclosure of Chemicals  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. - Following a robust and transparent public process …

BREAKING: After Scrapping AR-15 Ammo Ban, ATF Director B. Todd Jones Resigning  —  UPDATE: ATF has officially confirmed Jones' departure without stating a specific reason for his resignation.  —  “ATF employees are hard-working, dedicated individuals who serve the public to make our nation safer every day,” said Jones.

Yemen crisis: More than 100 die in attacks on Sanaa mosques  —  Suicide bombers have attacked two mosques in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, killing at least 126 people and wounding many others, reports say.  —  Worshippers were attending noon prayers at the Badr and al-Hashoosh mosques when at least four attackers struck.

The Circular Firing Squad  —  Breitbart's Matthew Boyle had himself a scoop - Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker hired someone to run his social media campaign who disagrees with him on some issues.  —  Yeah, that's really about it.  —  But the headline tells a different story.

These Republicans Want to Take Away Your Weekend  —  In Wisconsin, a new bill is threatening to kill workers' one day of rest. … As Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed the so-called “right to work” bill on March 9, making Wisconsin the twenty-fifth right-to-work state in the country …

Petraeus: The Islamic State isn't our biggest problem in Iraq  —  Gen. David H. Petraeus, who commanded U.S. troops in Iraq during the 2007-2008 surge, was back in that country last week for the first time in more than three years.  He was attending the annual Sulaimani Forum …

John Boehner defies conservatives, goes bold on budget  —  The House GOP's battered leadership team is determined to score some wins.  —  Speaker John Boehner's newest tack is to go big.  —  Over the next week, the Ohio Republican and his top lieutenants plan to jam two big-ticket items through …

Trillion Dollar Fraudsters  —  By now it's a Republican Party tradition: Every year the party produces a budget that allegedly slashes deficits, but which turns out to contain a trillion-dollar “magic asterisk” — a line that promises huge spending cuts and/or revenue increases …

Scientists say Arctic sea ice just set a disturbing new record  —  Two weeks ago, we noted here that the Arctic was on the verge of a scary new record — an unprecedented “lowest winter maximum” for sea ice extent.  What that would mean is that during the season of the year …

SOCIAL ISSUES … PRINCETON, N.J. — The San Francisco metropolitan area has the highest percentage of the adult population who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) of any of the top 50 U.S. metropolitan areas, followed by Portland, Oregon, and Austin, Texas.

Rudy Giuliani Tells His Party To Stop Blocking Loretta Lynch's Nomination  —  WASHINGTON — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) said Friday that Loretta Lynch is an “extraordinary” nominee for U.S. attorney general, and called on Senate Republicans to stop holding up her confirmation vote.

Guardian appoints Katharine Viner as editor-in-chief  —  Guardian US chief who also set up Australian operation will take over from Alan Rusbridger this summer  —  Katharine Viner has been appointed the editor-in-chief of the Guardian, the first woman to run the newspaper in its 194-year history.

Stephen King: LePage ‘full of the stuff that makes the grass grow green’  —  Author Stephen King turned Gov. Paul LePage's effort to kill Maine's income tax into a horror show for the governor Thursday.  —  In a weekly radio address LePage's office released on Wednesday …

How the Clintons' Haiti development plans succeed — and disappoint  —  PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Deep in the Haitian countryside, peanut farmer Wismith Moricette epitomizes the success of Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton's charitable work: Through an innovative program backed by the Clintons …