The Murders That Don't Count  —  Delric Miller IV died in a hail of bullets a month ago.  When someone fired 37 AK-47 rounds into his Detroit home at 4:30 a.m., he was mortally wounded while dozing on the couch.  He was nine months old.  No one made the multicolored teething ring he got …

When the Archbishop Met the President  —  Cardinal Dolan thought he heard Barack Obama pledge respect for the Catholic Church's rights of conscience.  Then came the contraception coverage mandate.  —  New York  —  The president of the U.S. Conference of Bishops is careful to show due respect for the president of the United States.

This Creepy App Isn't Just Stalking Women Without Their Knowledge, It's A Wake-Up Call About Facebook Privacy [Update]  —  This app is meant to all be in good fun, but it's potentially a weapon in the hands of stalkers.  —  “Boy, you sure have a lot of apps on your phone.”  —  “Well, it's my job.”

EPA Backpedals on Fracking Contamination  —  Texas Water-Pollution Suit Dropped; Third Recent Setback on Drilling for Agency  —  The Environmental Protection Agency has dropped its claim that an energy company contaminated drinking water in Texas, the third time in recent months that the agency …

A Health Law at Risk Gives Insurers Pause  —  As the Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of the federal health care law, one option that had seemed unthinkable to its designers and supporters now seems at least possible: that the court could strike down the entire law.

Obama Campus Fervor Losing to Apathy as Students Sour on 2012  —  On election night 2008, freshman Meagan Cassidy left Lake Forest College and hopped a train to Chicago to celebrate Barack Obama's impending victory.  —  “There was probably no better place to be,” Cassidy said in a phone interview.

Mega Millions: Why I threw away common sense and bought a ticket  —  We played.  —  My husband and I decided to do a financially unwise thing and take a chance at winning the $640 million dollar Mega Millions lottery.  It's not a smart use of even a dollar because the odds of winning are, well, astronomical — 1 in 176 million.

Orwell and March Madness  —  If you've been watching the N.C.A.A. men's basketball championship — a k a March Madness — you've undoubtedly seen the commercial.  It's an N.C.A.A. ad that shows college athletes pumping iron, running sprints and playing games.

Petrol crisis ‘is our Thatcher moment’, Tory MPs reportedly tell party members  —  Unite accuses ministers of ‘spoiling for a fight’ after memo from MPs emerges comparing situation with 1980s miners' strike  —  Tory MPs have compared the panic over fuel supplies to the 1980s miners' strike …

Federal court strikes down parts of collective bargaining law  —  MORE (2)  —  A federal judge on Friday upheld most of Gov. Scott Walker's controversial collective bargaining law, but struck down key parts of it by ruling that the state cannot prevent public employee unions …

Swingin' Kennedy  —  Since the retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor, Swingin' Anthony Kennedy has been the swingingest swinger on the Supreme Court, the big Numero Cinco on all those 5-4 white-knuckle nail-biting final scores.  So naturally Court observers have been paying close attention …

Why Are American Conservatives More Anti-Science Than European Conservatives?  —  Chris Mooney has a new book out, The Republican Brain, which I haven't read yet.  But he has a long piece over on the right which says, basically, that conservatives are wrong about a lot of stuff …

IRS not investigating Nikki Haley for tax fraud  —  South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's office Friday provided IRS documentation that she is not facing investigation for tax fraud, calling accusations that she was “totally contrived.”  —  Haley denied the rumors of a looming tax indictment on Thursday.

Current TV fires Keith Olbermann  —  Current TV has fired Keith Olbermann, citing a lack of “respect” and “collegiality” in its relationship with him, following months of open warfare between Olbermann and Current executives in the press.  —  He will be replaced by Eliot Spitzer …