Daily Caller, by Jason Howerton Posted By: KarenJ1- Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:58:57 GMT Even among Americans who support President Obama’s health care overhaul, a large majority believe that the law is out of step with the U.S. Constitution, a Gallup poll released Monday revealed. The poll, conducted Feb. 20–21, indicates that 72 percent of Americans believe the individual mandate — the government’s requirement for Americans to purchase health insurance — is unconstitutional. Even among Americans who feel the president’s health care law is a “good thing,” 54 percent think the provision is unconstitutional. Just 37 percent of Democrats said the individual health care mandate is constitutional.

The American, by Marc Thiessen Posted By: PageTurner- Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:58:40 GMT While it has gotten little attention here, the news media in Italy is abuzz with rumors that Fidel Castro will convert to Catholicism during Pope Benedict’s upcoming visit to Cuba. GetReligion.org reports: Fidel Castro will be received back into the communion of the Roman Catholic Church during Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the island in March, the Italian press is reporting. If true, this is a remarkable story — and one that has yet to catch the attention of editors this side of the Atlantic.

ABC News, by Devin Dwyer Posted By: Photoonist- Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:57:26 GMT President Obama said his formal apology to Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the burning of Korans by U.S. troops last week has "calmed things down" after the incident sparked an outbreak of violence across the country. "We're not out of the woods yet," Obama said in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Bob Woodruff at the White House. "But my criteria in any decision I make, getting recommendations from folks who are actually on the ground, is what is going to best protect our folks and make sure that they can accomplish their mission."

Washington Examiner, by Philip Klein Posted By: Photoonist- Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:54:46 GMT It's an old yarn, and just like a Brothers Grimm fairy tale, it frequently gets updated to suit the times. In the most recent version, President Obama is the noble hero who came to Washington to rescue the country, only to be thwarted at every turn by sinister Tea Party Republicans. The Grimms' successors at the New York Times have been recounting this tale in installments all week. On Sunday, the newspaper ran an article about how Republican moderates such as Sen. Orrin Hatch, of Utah, have been becoming more conservative to stave off primary challengers, a development that, "made

The Hill [Washington, DC], by Erik Wasson Posted By: KarenJ1- Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:53:21 GMT The powerful Republican head of the House Appropriations Committee got rough with President Obama’s environmental chief over the Environmental Protection Agency's coal mine permitting process on Wednesday. The wood'paneled committee hearing room suddenly seemed like a small'town courtroom as Chairman Hal Rogers (R'Ky.) turned prosecutorial on EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. At one point, after Jackson fumbled when trying to name any Appalachian mines she had permitted during her tenure, Rogers declared “I rest my case!”

Associated Press, by Staff Posted By: DaddyO- Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:53:10 GMT School officials in a Massachusetts town are apologizing for sending home a lunch menu that listed KKK Chicken Tenders as an option. About 6,500 students in four Methuen schools went home with new menus Tuesday, a day after the original one mistakenly listed chicken seemingly in the style of the Ku Klux Klan. Superintendent Judith Scannell tells The Eagle'Tribune the menu was supposed to list KK Chicken Tenders, with the KK standing for a creatively spelled "Krispy, Krunchy," but an employee mistakenly hit the "K'' key one too many times.

MSNBC, by Rosa Golijan Posted By: Photoonist- Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:45:51 GMT Have you ever wondered if the government — or more specifically, the Department of Homeland Security — is monitoring your Twitter or Facebook posts? If the answer's "yes," give yourself a pat on the back because you're right and not simply paranoid. There's even a list of keywords for which subcontractors hired by the DHS check social networks. (Snip) Technically this monitoring is not done by the DHS, but subcontractors who are specifically hired to "monitor social networks–use to generate real'time IOI reports," of course. Internal policies demand that those reports are stripped of most personally identifiable information (PII), though

Politico, by Darius Dixon & Dan Berman Posted By: KarenJ1- Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:41:01 GMT Bill Clinton says it's time to build the Keystone XL pipeline. Speaking at an Energy Department conference in Maryland on Wednesday, the former president said he was surprised the project has gotten as gummed up as it has, laying the blame on pipeline builder TransCanada. "One of the most amazing things to me about this Keystone pipeline deal is that they ever filed that route in the first place since they could've gone around the Nebraska Sandhills and avoided most of the dangers, no matter how imagined, to the Ogallala

Fox News, by Staff Posted By: LittleHoodedMonk- Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:39:38 GMT Mitt Romney, at least before a pair of primary victories cheered his spirits, seemed bent out of shape over Rick Santorum's overt effort in Michigan to attract Democrats. But Michigan won't be the last place Romney faces the prospect of questionably motivated crossover votes. Seven of the 10 states hosting primaries and caucuses next Tuesday have what are known as "open" elections. Just like in Michigan, Democrats and independents as well as Republicans will be welcome to vote. Facing that reality, the Romney campaign already is working to counter an expected push by Santorum to lure

Boston Herald, by Joe Dwinell Posted By: NorthernDog- Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:38:17 GMT The campaign camp of U.S. Sen. Scott Brown just tweeted the junior Bay State senator has blasted ahead of Democratic rival Elizabeth Warren in a new poll. “New poll shows Scott Brown leading Elizabeth Warren by 10 points,” top adviser Eric Fehrnstrom tweets. The tweet links to a report of the survey — by Opinion Dynamics for Mass Insight Global Partnerships of Boston — that places Brown ahead of Warren 52 to 42 percent, respectively. The poll also hits as the Massachusetts Republican party smacks Warren for her Hollywood fundraiser tomorrow. The GOP released a YouTube video, titled “The Elitist,”