PARTING SHOTS: Pentagon will cut thousands of jobs

• The Pentagon will cut thousands of jobs — including 50 posts reserved for generals and admirals and the entire Joint Forces Command based in Virginia — as part of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates's plan to save $100 billion over 5 years. (The Washington Post)

• Former Mexican President Vicente Fox called on his country to legalize drugs as a way of combating powerful drug cartels. (Bloomberg News)

• A former classmate alleges that Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul kidnapped her while he was part of a secret society at Baylor University in Texas. She said he tried to force her to smoke marijuana and pray to the "aqua Buddha" in a creek in a bizarre late-night prank. Paul's reps won't deny the story but say they are considering taking legal action against the "drive-by journalism." (GQ, Slate)

• President Obama called for making higher education more affordable in a speech at the University of Texas in Austin today. Gov. Rick Perry greeted him with a letter asking for more National Guardsmen at the border. (Houston Chronicle, POLITICO)

• Arkansas doctor Randeep Mann was convicted of setting off a car bomb that seriously wounded the director of the state's medical board in 2009. (CNN)

Photo: AP