(15 stories) Supreme Court to take new look at affirmative action

US News - News February 21, 2012 See US News Weather Supreme Court to take new look at affirmative action (NorthJersey) The Supreme Court will once again confront the issue of race in university admissions in a case brought by a white student denied a spot at the flagship campus of the University of Texas. Mardi Gras revelry, parades take over New Orleans (seattlepi) Rocker Bret Michaels and Grammy-winning singer Cyndi Lauper were expected to usher in Mardi Gras with musical performances in the wee hours of the morning Tuesday. Michaels, the bandana-wearing Poison frontman, and Lauper were the celebrity riders in Orpheus, the parade club founded in 1993 by New Orleans native actor and crooner Harry Connick Jr. Party Crasher:: Ron Paul's Libertarian roots. (newyorker) Ron Paul is hoping to capture as many Republican delegates as he can. What is he going to do with them? On December 16, 2007, on the two-hundred-and-thirty-fourth anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, Ron Paul, congressman and Presidential candidate, presided over a nationwide fund-raiser. This was a new tea party, with a new slogan: "Liberty is brewing." In Boston, hundreds of Paul's supporters marched to Faneuil Hall. Xi's Tour Won't Fix the U.S.-Chinese 'Trust Deficit' (foreignaffairs) Before Xi's visit to the United States, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, Cui Tiankai, bemoaned the two countries' "trust deficit" and suggested that they give full attention to fixing it. Santorum's Problem With Women Could Be His Glass Ceiling (vpr) As February began, Rick Santorum's presidential bid was polling in the mid-teens among Republicans. Now, we find ourselves two weeks deep in the Santorum Era. His national polling number has doubled since he won the Trifecta Tuesday events in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri. Those were small contests with few participants and zero delegates at stake. But Santorum threatens to win far larger and more meaningful tests in Michigan and Arizona a week from now, and in Ohio a week after that. Some Republicans Whisper About a Plan B (fox8) "There is something called agenda control," said one unaffiliated GOP strategist. "Santorum does not have it. Instead of talking about the economy, he's been going down rabbit holes for the last four or five days." In a whispering campaign not ready to go public, some senior Republicans are so anxious about the state of the GOP race they are actually considering the unheard of: a scenario that would lead to another candidate entering the Republican primary race, and potentially an open convention. Jury selection to begin in Philadelphia church abuse scandal (reuters) one priest and one defrocked priest -- are accused of sexually abusing children between 1996 and 1999.The church has paid out some $2 billion in settlements to victims A criminal trial in the Philadelphia Catholic Archdiocese pedophilia scandal gets underway on Tuesday, a case likely to be watched closely as one defendant is the first high-ranking U.S. cleric to go to trial in a child sex abuse case. As primary turnouts drop, GOP enthusiasm is questioned (articles.philly) In almost every Republican nominating contest so far, turnout has fallen compared with four years agoTwo years ago, protesters were in the streets throwing tea bags. Republicans, electrified by anti-Obama fervor, crushed the Democrats in midterm elections that gave them control of the U.S. House and victories in statehouses across the nation. Police: Southern Calif. Baby Wasn't Abandoned (abcnews.go) Long Beach police spokeswoman Lisa Massacani says investigators believe the baby's mother either called 911 herself or she gave the newborn to the woman who earlier claimed she found the baby. Deadly Washington avalanche highlights airbag (usatoday) The weekend avalanche that killed three skiers near Stevens Pass, Wash., was the single-deadliest such accident in three years, but it highlighted a safety device that likely saved the life of a fourth skier caught in the slide. Three skiers were buried alive in Sunday's avalanche, which occurred outside the boundaries of the Stevens Pass ski resort. Skier Elyse Saugstad, however, had time to deploy her "avalanche airbag backpack" as the onrushing wall of snow struck. Hitler had son with French teen (telegraph.co.uk) Jean-Marie Loret, who died in 1985 aged 67, never met his father, but went on to fight Nazi forces during the Second World War. His extraordinary story has now been backed up by a range of compelling evidence, both in France and in Germany, which is published in the latest edition of Paris's Le Point magazine. Hitler is said to have had an affair with Mr Loret's mother, Charlotte Lobjoie, 16, as he took a break from the trenches in June 1917. Congress targets federal workers for savings (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) Federal workers were $15 billion losers as Congress looked for ways to pay for parts of the just-passed legislation to extend the payroll tax cut and federal unemployment benefits through the end of the year. Republican 'super PACs' buoyed by mega donors (WTEN-TV Albany) Bud Lindsay hands out bumper stickers during a campaign stop for Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Minn. House passes sex offender notification bill (WHDH) The Minnesota House passed a bill Monday to close a loophole in sex offender law in response to the upcoming provisional discharge of convicted child molester Clarence Opheim. Federal judge rejects parts of immigration ordinance (KLKN) The U.S. District Court judge has thrown out parts of the ordinance that sought to ban hiring or renting to illegal immigrants. More US News News...

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