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Jesse Jackson Jr., recently retired Democratic Congressman, was charged by Federal prosecutors with misusing $750,000 of campaign funds. His wife was also charged. Reports are that he will plead guilty.  No shock was registered in the media.

No time-frame yet on the availability of Sean Hannity's military record.

Unsubstaniated Rumor #1: The National Debt Clock in New York City will be replaced by a Countdown-to-Sequester Clock.

Back in December, as residents of Staten Island railed about the government's response in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, I thought there was irony in it all: Staten Island always seemed to me to be the most conservative-leaning of the Five Boroughs. It was the borough that elected Tea Partier Michael Grimm to the House, the Borough that seemed most disdainful of the Federal government. I checked voter registrations recently: In 2012, of the 4, 224,811 active registered voters in the City,  less than 11% were Republicans. Staten Island was different, with nearly 30% of its 262,305 voters registering with the GOP. Significant? 

Do we perceive the difference between studying as much evidence as can be attained and then drawing a conclusion, or having an opinion and seeking the evidence to support it?

David Dayen advocates for the return of the practice of permitting the U.S. Postal Service to offer simple banking services in an online article. His two main points is that such a move would help the USPS financially, and provide a needed financial service to the 68 million "underbanked" Americans.

Unsubstantiated Rumor #2: Some of the funds for Ted Cruz's Senatorial campaign came from Friends of Hamas.