To GOP, blatant bias in vetting  —  On the front page of its Sunday edition, the New York Times gave a big spread to Ann Romney spending lots of time and tons of money on an exotic genre of horse-riding.  The clear implication: The Romneys are silly rich, move in rarefied and exotic circles, and are perhaps a tad shady.

Bloomberg Plans a Ban on Large Sugared Drinks  —  New York City plans to enact a far-reaching ban on the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, movie theaters and street carts, in the most ambitious effort yet by the Bloomberg administration to combat rising obesity.

Warren says she told schools of heritage  —  Acknowledges identifying as Native American after hirings  —  Governor Deval Patrick (right) endorsed Elizabeth Warren's Senate candidacy at a campaign event on Wednesday.  (Yoon S. Byun / Globe Staff)  —  Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth …

BREAKING: Two Republican Judges Declare DOMA Unconstitutional  —  A three judge panel of The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit just handed down a decision declaring the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.  Notably, the panel included Judges Juan Torruella and Michael Boudin …

Appeals Court Rules Against Defense of Marriage Act  —  BOSTON (AP) — A federal appeals court Thursday declared that the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutionally denies federal benefits to married gay couples, a groundbreaking ruling all but certain to wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Wisconsin Unions See Ranks Drop Ahead of Recall Vote  —  Public-employee unions in Wisconsin have experienced a dramatic drop in membership—by more than half for the second-biggest union—since a law championed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker sharply curtailed their ability to bargain over wages and working conditions.

Obama team bashes Romney record as governor  —  President Obama's re-election team kicks off its campaign against Mitt Romney's term as governor of Massachusetts today with a new video and anti-Romney testimony from state Democrats.  —  The four-minute film notes that Romney raised state fees …

Republican's abortion bill risks alienating Asian Americans  —  Republicans long ago lost African American voters.  They are well on their way to losing Latinos.  And if Trent Franks prevails, they may lose Asian Americans, too.  —  The Arizona Republican's latest antiabortion salvo …

National Income and Product Accounts Gross Domestic Product, 1st quarter 2012 (second estimate); Corporate Profits, 1st quarter 2012 (preliminary estimate)  —  Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States …

On Edwards Jury's Eighth Day, Alternates Are Sent Home  —  GREENSBORO, N.C. — After more than 45 hours of jury deliberations over eight days, there is still no verdict on whether former Senator John Edwards is guilty of violating federal campaign laws.  —  But some moments in the courtroom …

World War II Vet Caught Up In Florida's Voter Purge Controversy  —  Bill Internicola, a 91-year-old veteran of World War II, was one of the voters targeted by Florida as a potential noncitizen.  Internicola was ordered to prove his citizenship or lose the right to vote.

Puts Church on Lockdown Pastor Gets Death Threats  —  Members of an Indiana church say they've been flooded with death threats since video of a 3-year-old proudly singing, “Ain't no homos gonna make it to heaven” ... was posted on the Internet.  —  Multiple members of the Apostolic Truth Tabernacle Church …

In Milwaukee Post, Cardinal Authorized Paying Abusers  —  Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York authorized payments of as much as $20,000 to sexually abusive priests as an incentive for them to agree to dismissal from the priesthood when he was the archbishop of Milwaukee.

BREAKING: Walmart Ends Financial Support For ALEC  —  The world's largest retailer, Walmart, has become the nineteenth group to leave the American Legislative Exchange Council.  Walmart's departure from the right-wing legislation-crafting group is particularly salient because the big box chain …

Porn actor suspected of dismembering acquaintance still on the loose  —  (CNN) — The search continued Thursday for a gay porn actor suspected of dismembering his acquaintance, posting the video of the incident online and mailing the severed limbs to different locations in Ottawa …

Montana bucks the court  —  Montana uses an interesting argument to justify defiance of a Supreme Court decision: Because the state is particularly prone to political corruption, it should be trusted to constrict First Amendment protections of political speech.

Video: Fox's “Four years of hope and change”; Update: “Not authorized at the senior executive level of the network”  —  Considering the source.  —  I don't disagree with much, if anything, in this video presented earlier today on Fox & Friends.  Neither, I suspect, will many of our readers.