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 …

Obama: ‘I Am Constrained By A System That Our Founders Put In Place’  —  DENVER (CBSDC/AP) — Ratcheting up pressure for Congress to limit access to guns, President Barack Obama said Wednesday that recent steps by Colorado to tighten its gun laws show “there doesn't have to be a conflict” …

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.

Remarks by the President at a DCCC Event — San Francisco, CA  —  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you, everybody.  Thank you.  Well, first of all, I want to thank Tom and Kat for opening up this spectacular home.  They were bragging about the view — (laughter) …

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 …

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” …

North Korean Missile Moved to Coast, but Limited Threat Seen  —  SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's defense chief said on Thursday that North Korea has moved to its east coast a missile with a “considerable” range, but that it was not capable of reaching the United States.

A viewer's guide to Clinton Fever  —  Will she run or won't she?  —  The obsessive speculation about Hillary Clinton's plans for 2016 promises to be the longest and most intense parlor game in the history of American politics.  It is a consuming fixation already, not just among the operatives …

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.

$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 …

Fast food workers plan surprise strike  —  Breaking: Workers in some 50 restaurants expected to walk off job, potentially shutting down several eateries today  —  A protester holds up a sign at a demonstration outside McDonald's in Times Square in support of employees on strike …

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 …

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 …

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 …

The New House Republican Web Strategy: Just Add BuzzFeed  —  What do cat pictures and GIFs have to do with Republican politics?  Not a whole lot, at least right now.  But beginning next week, that'll change.  —  Staffers at the National Republican Congressional Committee are finishing …

The President Gives Hollywood a Pass on Violence  —  Movies and videogames aren't high among White House concerns.  —  There was something missing from President Obama's Wednesday speech in Denver about gun violence.  He focused almost exclusively on passing gun-control laws …

Stephen Colbert ready to make posters for his sister  —  (CNN) - It may have been a foregone conclusion, but Stephen Colbert formally endorsed his sister in her bid for Congress Wednesday.  —  The comedian - who appears on his nightly show as a conservative pundit - joked he was ready to join the …

Radar shows U.S. border security gaps  —  Vader, a system originally used to track the Taliban, finds that more immigrants elude capture at the U.S.-Mexico border than previously estimated.  —  U.S. Customs and Border Protection flies unmanned drones with the Vader radar system over southern Arizona …

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.

As Senate Democrats struggle to build support for new gun control legislation, the American Civil Liberties Union now says it's among those who have “serious concerns” about the bill.  —  Those concerns have the capacity to prove a major setback to Sen. Harry Reid's current gun bill …