"May your day be full of Jasmine," one online dater in Libya wrote to a woman who's profile he found attractive.Coded words, from one firey opposition fighter to another. Libyans fighting the forces of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in the "Jasmine Revolution" have jumped upon yet another form of 21st century social media to coordinate protests: Online dating sites.

Former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich is announcing today that he's launching an “exploratory phase” to test the waters for a presidential run in 2012. His spokesperson told an Georgia radio host on Thursday that he’s launching a website, NewtExplore2012.com, but Gingrich is not forming a formal federal exploratory committee yet.

The rumors of Gingrich’s yen to take the oval office after a single Obama term have been swirling for over a year. He has been planting seeds in Iowa, a state whose early caucus is often a soothsayer for winning the Republican primary. For that reason, Gingrich has visited Iowa nine times in the past two years.

PHOTOS. New York is a city of specialists from foodies to academics, laborers to shopkeepers. Every Wednesday, Niche Market will take a peek inside a different specialty store and showcase the city's purists who have made an art out of selling one commodity. 

There will be dueling rallies in Trenton on Friday, both connected to the rumble in Wisconsin. The New Jersey State AFL-CIO is expecting to bring out 4,000 to 5,000 people in solidarity with union members who are protesting Gov. Scott Walker's (R-WI) bill to strip away collective bargaining rights from most public sector unions.

Meanwhile, Americans for Prosperity, a coalition of Tea Party groups that calls itself the state's leading free market, grassroots organization (and has funding from the conservative Koch brothers) will stage a counter protest. AFP State director Steve Lonegan believes public sector unions have too much power and use it to negotiate luxurious benefits, to the detriment of tax payers who pay for them.

New York is a city of specialists from foodies to academics, laborers to shopkeepers. Every Wednesday, Niche Market will take a peek inside a different specialty store and showcase the city's purists who have made an art out of selling one commodity.

"This is the new normal," Christie pronounced in Trenton on Tuesday.

Thoroughly optimistic about the state of New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie introduced a $29.4 billion 2012 budget, with spending projected to be 2.6 percent less than the current year. He reaffirmed his commitment to not fund commitments made by prior governors if he doesn't believe they're good investments (possibly a reference to pulling a plug on the ARC Tunnel project connecting New York and New Jersey). 

Amid a veritable thunderstorm of union opposition to a bill proposed by Gov. Scott Walker, the 14 Democrats in the Wisconsin State Senate have gone off the grid in a ploy to avoid a vote on a Republican-backed budget plan that would strip most public employees of their collective-bargaining rights.

New York is a city of specialists from foodies to academics, laborers to shopkeepers. Every Wednesday, Niche Market will take a peek inside a different specialty store and showcase the city's purists who have made an art out of selling one commodity.

President Obama's press conference on Tuesday focused on defending the annual budget he presented yesterday. Reporters used to opportunity to corner him on Egypt, the deficit commission, tax reform and "having an adult conversation" with Republicans.

President Hosni Mubarak told the Egyptian people on state TV that he will remain in Egypt until his death and will not step down until there are free elections in September. He announced that he had transfered some powers to the Vice President, and will amend the consititution in preparation for a repeal of the hated emergency law that allows the arrest of anyone who is in opposition to the government—but left it vague when that would take place.

Speaking to students at Northern Michigan University, President Obama called the events unfolding in Egypt a "moment of transformation." The administration has been very careful with its words about Mubarak, so Obama appears to be riding the wave, not driving the wave.

BREAKING—Egyptian military commanders told protesters in Tahrir Square that all their demands would be met today, but they were not. On twitter, the day started off with joyous pronouncements that the revolution had succeeded, followed by remarks of uncertainty, and now we're seeing anger, disappointment and promises to march to the palace in Cairo tomorrow.

The annual Conservative Political Action Conference is always a big shindig, but this year there will be some new faces at the planning table: GOProud, a gay group that implicitly supports gay marriage in addition to the usual laundry list of conservative ideals. GOProud's attendance was enough to set off a boycott of CPAC by prominent conservative politicans and groups, including individuals who had previously attended the conference and even delivered keynote speeches there.

New York is a city of specialists from foodies to academics, laborers to shopkeepers. Every Wednesday, Niche Market will take a peek inside a different specialty store and showcase the city's purists who have made an art out of selling one commodity.