Roger Ebert dies at 70 after battle with cancer  —  Except for those he hated.  —  For a film with a daring director, a talented cast, a captivating plot or, ideally, all three, there could be no better advocate than Roger Ebert, who passionately celebrated and promoted excellence in film …

Majority Now Supports Legalizing Marijuana  —  OVERVIEW  —  For the first time in more than four decades of polling on the issue, a majority of Americans favor legalizing the use of marijuana.  A national survey finds that 52% say that the use of marijuana should be made legal while 45% say it should not.

Bill Nelson reverses opposition to gay marriage  —  Sen. Bill Nelson has reversed his opposition to gay marriage, becoming the latest senator to do so.  Now, only six Democrats in the chamber are opposed to gay marriage.  —  In a statement to the Tampa Bay Times editorial board, he wrote:

Obama: Newtown Shooter Gunned Down 20 Children With ‘Fully Automatic Weapon’  —  At a fundraiser last night in San Francisco, President Barack Obama said that the Newtown killer gunned down 20 children using a “fully automatic weapon.”  From the official transcript, provided by the White House:

Jeremy Irons On Gay Marriage: ‘Could A Father Not Marry His Son?’  (VIDEO)  —  Academy Award winning actor Jeremy Irons said Wednesday that while he doesn't have much of a strong opinion either way on same-sex marriage, he believes it poses interesting questions, including whether allowing same-sex marriage …

Introducing Home  —  Today we're introducing Home - a new way to turn your Android phone into a great, living, social phone.  —  We all want to share and connect.  That's how we discover new information and build meaningful relationships.  But today, phones are built around tasks and apps.

The 13 Hottest Attorneys General  —  Weird thing to say, President Obama .  —  Delaware AG Beau Biden  —  Image by Harry E. Walker/MCT  —  Kentucky AG Jack Conway  —  Image by The Gleaner, Darrin Phegley / AP  —  Texas AG Greg Abbott  —  Image by Ron T. Ennis/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT

He Wears the Mask  —  The present darling of the right wing, Dr. Benjamin Carson, is a distinguished neurosurgeon who went from the depths of Detroit poverty to the heights of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.  But his current status among conservatives isn't so much rooted …

As Senate Prepares To Take Up Background Checks, NRA Warns Of Outright Gun Confiscation  —  As the U.S. Senate prepares to consider a package of gun violence prevention proposals next week, the National Rifle Association has moved into full campaign mode, fighting against reforms backed by 91 percent of the American public.

Did Obama tell a Democratic audience that a “fully automatic weapon” was used at Newtown?  —  Either (a) O's referring to a different shooting, which I doubt, (b) I missed a major update to the Newtown story, (c) he knows something we don't, or (d) he has roughly the same mastery of gun fundamentals as magazine expert Diana DeGette.

Reagan Daughter Says He'd Have Backed Gay Marriage  —  WASHINGTON — As Republican politicians wrestle with same-sex marriage, the daughter of a party icon — former President Ronald Reagan — said in an interview this week that she believes her father would have “been puzzled” …

Apple's iMessage encryption trips up feds' surveillance  —  Internal document from the Drug Enforcement Administration complains that messages sent with Apple's encrypted chat service are “impossible to intercept,” even with a warrant.  —  Encryption used in Apple's iMessage chat service …

McAuliffe Tight-Lipped on Child Sodomy Case  —  Liberal blogs have been ridiculing Virginia attorney general and gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli for prosecuting a 47-year-old man named William Scott MacDonald under Virginia's anti-sodomy law.  While the prosecution is an obvious sign …

PAC launches to support bearded political candidates  —  A Political Action Committee (PAC) launched this week to support bearded candidates, according to paperwork filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).  —  The Bearded Entrepreneurs for the Advancement of a Responsible Democracy …

George Osborne parks in disabled bay: Tory Chancellor causes outrage by ignoring restrictions  —  He was branded selfish and arrogant after allowing his chauffeur to park his £50,000 Land Rover in a space reserved for the disabled  —  Dozy parker: Mr Osborne returns to his car

Michelle Obama mistakenly calls herself a “busy single mother”  —  PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO  —  First lady Michelle Obama mistakenly called herself a “busy single mother” in an interview on Thursday with Burlington, Vt. CBS affiliate WCAX, before quickly catching herself and identifying instead as “busy working mom.”

BREAKING: Texas A&M Student Senate passes anti-gay bill in 35-28 vote  —  After three hours of emotional debate, the Texas A&M Student Senate voted 35-28 Wednesday night to approve an anti-gay measure that would allow students to opt out of funding the campus GLBT Resource Center if they have religious objections.

Tens of thousands Obamacare ‘navigators’ to be hired … Tens of thousands of health care professionals, union workers and community activists hired as “navigators” to help Americans choose Obamacare options starting Oct. 1 could earn $20 an hour or more, according to new regulations issued Wednesday.

Judge Who Sent Racist, Anti-Obama Email Will Retire From Bench  —  Last year, former Chief Judge Richard Cebull, a George W. Bush appointee to the federal district court in Montana, admitted to sending a racist email forward comparing President Obama's conception to sex with a dog:

$423,500 Stimulus Program on ‘Correct Condom Use’ Yields Zero Jobs  —  The details of a stimulus grant awarded to Indiana University to study condom use have now been released on a government website.  The study, titled “Barriers to Correct Condom Use,” is now completed, according to the website …

Why 2012 Postmortems Overstate Republican Woes  —  Since the 2012 elections, there's been an extended debate over the strength of the current Democratic majority and the future viability of the Republican Party.  I've long argued that these postmortems are overwrought, and nothing about the results altered that.

EXCLUSIVE: Cutest boy leaving ‘Girls’  —  Christopher Abbott — who plays Allison Williams' boyfriend Charlie on Lena Dunham's HBO series “Girls” — has abruptly left the show, we've exclusively learned.  The move comes just as his character seemed to be gaining prominence, with Charlie …

Siren: Eric Cantor Will Consider Higher Taxes  —  I don't even know what I'm saying!  —  Republicans have insisted so often and so convincingly that they absolutely will not agree to higher taxes that all of us have assumed that a deal on the budget can't happen, that sequestration is simply the new normal.

Matt Blank, Dennis Basso and the Story Behind Meghan McCain's Latest TV Project  —  Last week, it was all about authors and agents, and today it was television titans' turn in the rotating cast of characters that is Wednesdays at Michael's.  Tonight when Liz Smith hosts her annual kick-off …