“I'm a 34-year-old NBA center.  I'm black.  And I'm gay,” says Jason Collins.  —  I'm a 34-year-old NBA center.  I'm black.  And I'm gay.  —  I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport.  But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation.

More backlash against Senators on gun vote  —  New PPP polls in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, and Ohio find serious backlash against the 5 Senators who voted against background checks in those states.  Each of them has seen their approval numbers decline, and voters say they're less likely …

‘Misha’ Speaks: An Interview with the Alleged Boston Bomber's ‘Svengali’  —  As the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombings continues, one of the more clouded aspects is the tale of “Misha,” a mysterious US-based Islamist who has been accused by members of the Tsarnaev family …

After Casting Key Fifth Vote For Bush, Justice O'Connor Now Regrets Bush v. Gore  —  Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the conservative retired justice who provided the fifth vote to install George W. Bush as president, is now having second thoughts about that decision:

If Hillary is running for prez, I'm out  —  Cuomo quietly ‘concedes’ 2016 race  —  Gov. Cuomo has quietly told associates that he is resigned to the fact that he can't run for president in 2016 if Hillary Rodham Clinton enters the race, as is widely expected, sources told The Post.

C.I.A. Delivers Cash to Afghan Leader's Office  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — For more than a decade, wads of American dollars packed into suitcases, backpacks and, on occasion, plastic shopping bags have been dropped off every month or so at the offices of Afghanistan's president — courtesy of the Central Intelligence Agency.

House Republicans Eyeing New Hostage Opportunity  —  If you don't submit, I will destroy your puny world with this HAMMER OF THOR.  —  The House Republicans are contemplating a new budget-hostage strategy, the the Washington Post reports in a story that is both highly useful and inadvertently Onion-esque.

The Story of Our Time  —  Those of us who have spent years arguing against premature fiscal austerity have just had a good two weeks.  Academic studies that supposedly justified austerity have lost credibility; hard-liners in the European Commission and elsewhere have softened their rhetoric.

Christie: No regrets for clashing with GOP over Sandy relief efforts  —  Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he didn't regret his actions in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, even though they caused intra-party strife at a critical juncture in the 2012 presidential election.

Black pols stymied in Obama era  —  More than five years after Barack Obama won the Iowa caucuses and demolished the notion that white voters wouldn't support a black presidential candidate, progress for other African-American politicians remains elusive.  Even as the country elected and reelected Obama …

Hoax emergency message sends police to Wolf Blitzer's house in Bethesda  —  Montgomery County police received an urgent message at about 6:25 p.m. Saturday saying someone had been shot at Wolf Blitzer's home in Bethesda.  Officers streamed toward the CNN host's residence near Congressional Country Club.

We tried to weaponize the weather  —  Cold War secrets: Melting polar ice cap with nukes, changing the sea level, even LSD weapons were all on the table  —  Excerpted from “Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism”  —  The years between the rst hydrogen bomb tests …

After string of setbacks, more charm may be the last, best option for Obama  —  There was little time to mingle Tuesday night at the White House.  Five minutes after greeting them, President Obama ushered 20 female senators into the State Dining Room and invited each to offer her thoughts on the issues of the day.

Are there more abortion doctors like Kermit Gosnell?  Do we want to know?  —  “I don't know why you want to know all this; just do it.”  - Clinic worker in the Bronx, answering questions about late-term abortion from a woman who was 23 weeks pregnant.  —  An antiabortion activist appears …