pressure cookers, backpacks and quinoa, oh my!  —  It was a confluence of magnificent proportions that led six agents from the joint terrorism task force to knock on my door Wednesday morning.  Little did we know our seemingly innocent, if curious to a fault, Googling of certain things …

Edward Snowden leaves airport and enters Russia after authorities grant him temporary asylum  —  MOSCOW — National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden left transit zone of a Moscow airport and entered Russia after authorities granted him temporary asylum, his lawyer said Thursday.

Why Rand Paul and Chris Christie went to war  —  Well, that was a splendid little war.  —  Over the last week, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul took the GOP's intra-party bickering to a new level, openly savaging each other on issues of national security, privacy and government spending.

Poll: Kentucky Voters Want McConnell Out  —  New poll numbers released Thursday suggested that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is entering his reelection campaign next year facing two perilous obstacles: an electorate that wants him out of office and a viable Democratic challenger.

GOP's Long-Predicted Comeuppance Has Arrived  —  Republicans have dealt with some embarrassing moments on the House floor over the past year, but none so revealing or damning as today's snafu, when they yanked a bill to fund the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development.

2016 presidential race: Cory Booker rules out run  —  No, there will not be a 2016 campaign for Cory Booker.  —  The Newark mayor and runaway frontrunner in the special election for the seat of late Sen. Frank Lautenberg's ruled out a presidential run or serving on the ticket of another candidate in the next national campaign.

Bob Filner's attorney says San Diego is at fault for mayor's behavior  —  Revelation found in newly released document  —  SAN DIEGO - The attorney for San Diego Mayor Bob Filner placed “some responsibility and potential liability on the City of San Diego” for accusations of sexual harassment …

Teamsters Ordered to Stop Picketing Funeral Homes  —  A judge ordered one of Chicago's most politically powerful labor unions to suspend picketing against 16 funeral homes last week after receiving reports that striking Teamsters had, among other things, disturbed a child's funeral.

Democrats Using Voting Rights Issues to Protect Senate Majority  —  To hold Southern Senate seats, Democrats need blacks to show up and vote without Obama on the ballot.  Enter Eric Holder.  —  Without President Obama's name on the ballot, Democrats and civil rights leaders increasingly view voting rights …

Hillary Clinton's 2008 slaps still sting President Obama  —  “Friendship” was the main course during Hillary Clinton's lunch with President Barack Obama this week, according to an Obama spokesman, but no one could have blamed Clinton for ordering a small side of I-told-you-so.

Rick Santorum: Pope's “Gay” Comments Were Taken Out Of Context  —  “I've read the whole transcript,” says the former presidential candidate.  He says the church won't be changing its stance on homosexuality anytime soon.  —  Via: Eric Gay / AP  —  Pope Francis made headlines this week …

Gay Athletes Could Be Prosecuted at 2014 Winter Olympics, Russian Lawmaker Suggests  —  In Russia it is now illegal to even speak about homosexuality around minors, much less openly display gay pride.  Technically the ban is against “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” around minors …

A Rising Share of Young Adults Live in Their Parents' Home  —  A Record 21.6 Million In 2012  —  OVERVIEW  —  In 2012, 36% of the nation's young adults ages 18 to 31—the so-called Millennial generation—were living in their parents' home, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.

Old Glory daze stings  —  His name is Billy Eisengrein, better known as the third firefighter on the right.  —  On Sept. 11, 2001, Billy stood amid the wreckage of Ground Zero when he spotted two firefighters.  One held in his hand a miracle: a large, unscathed American flag.

Detroit's death by democracy  —  In 1860, an uneasy Charles Darwin confided in a letter to a friend: “I had no intention to write atheistically” but “I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created the Ichneumonidae with the express intention …

Higher Ed: Engine of Inequity  —  From Horace Mann to President Obama, and legions of politicians and educators in between, education has been heralded as the great equalizer, an institution that can balance (if not undo) racial, ethnic or other inequities that separate segments of society.

New Website to Answer Obamacare Questions for Businesses Crashes on First Day  —  Thursday morning, the White House announced a new website to answer questions from businesses about Obamacare.  Valerie Jarrett wrote about the launch in a blog post titled, “A One-Stop-Shop on the Health Care Law for Businesses Big and Small.”