Exclusive: U.S. directs agents to cover up program used to investigate Americans  —  (Reuters) - A secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records to authorities across …

RNC Chairman Calls on NBC and CNN to Stop Promoting Hillary Clinton  —  RNC will not partner with networks in 2016 primary debates  —  WASHINGTON - Today Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus sent a letter to Robert Greenblatt, Chairman of NBC Entertainment …

Washington Post to be sold to Jeff Bezos  —  The Washington Post Co. has agreed to sell its flagship newspaper to Amazon.com founder and chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos, ending the Graham family's stewardship of one of America's leading news organizations after four generations.

Warning to Americans: Be Afraid, Very Afraid  —  It seems as if al-Qaeda, or its Arabian Peninsula branch, has succeeded in terrorizing the United States of America again, but this time without - as of this writing - detonating an ounce of C4.  It doesn't strike me as a wise idea …

Republicans Against Reality  —  Last week House Republicans voted for the 40th time to repeal Obamacare.  Like the previous 39 votes, this action will have no effect whatsoever.  But it was a stand-in for what Republicans really want to do: repeal reality, and the laws of arithmetic in particular.

Boston bomber ‘had far-right papers’  —  What was behind Boston bombing?  Hilary Andersson reports  —  One of the brothers suspected of carrying out the Boston bombings was in possession of right-wing American literature in the run-up to the attack, BBC Panorama has learnt.

The Last Temptation of Tina Brown  —  On Nov. 12, 2010, Tina Brown gathered the staff of her Web site The Daily Beast in the third-floor conference room at its Chelsea offices with its commanding views of the Hudson.  Brimming with the fervor she has brought to all her endeavors …

Dead people gave nearly $600K to campaigns since 2009  —  WASHINGTON — The dead can't vote, but they can give money to politicians.  —  Thirty-two people listed on federal campaign records as “deceased” have contributed more than $586,000 to congressional and presidential candidates …

Congress's ObamaCare Exemption  —  The President intervenes to give Members and staff a break.  —  To adapt H.L. Mencken, nobody ever went broke underestimating the cynicism and self-dealing of the American political class.  Witness their ad-libbed decision, at the 11th hour and on the basis …

Feds are Suspects in New Malware That Attacks Tor Anonymity  —  Security researchers tonight are poring over a piece of malicious software that takes advantage of a Firefox security vulnerability to identify some users of the privacy-protecting Tor anonymity network.

Rep. Ted Yoho Praises Birther Conspiracy, Calls Obamacare Racist Against White People  —  UPDATE: More of Yoho's far-right comments here.  —  Speaking at a town hall meeting earlier this month, Florida Republican congressman Ted Yoho promised that he would support possible birther legislation floated …

World's first lab-grown burger is eaten in London  —  Scientists took cells from a cow and, at an institute in the Netherlands, turned them into strips of muscle that they combined to make a patty.  —  One food expert said it was “close to meat, but not that juicy” and another said it tasted like a real burger.

Newt Gingrich sees major Mideast mistakes, rethinks his neocon views on intervention  —  Welcomes libertarian debate on U.S. military involvement  —  Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a leading neoconservative hawk and staunch supporter of Israel, says the U.S. military interventions …

Republicans Don't Need to Sabotage Obamacare  —  David Morgan, who reports on health care at Reuters, could teach a class on how to spin a story.  The Obama administration, he tells us in the lead of a recent article, is “poised for a huge public education campaign” about the health-care law.

Beauty Queen Arrested For Throwing Homemade Bombs  —  (KUTV) Miss Riverton, crowned in June and set to compete in the Miss Utah pageant, was arrested early Saturday morning along with her three friends after allegedly throwing homemade bombs at people and homes.

New study finds vast online marketplace for guns without background checks  —  The marketplace for firearms on the Internet, where buyers are not required to undergo background checks, is so vast that advocates for stricter regulations now consider online sales a greater threat than the gun show loophole.

Why the GOP's big money is failing  —  The Democrats are getting away with it.  —  Obamacare.  Partisan witch hunts at the IRS.  Benghazi.  Snowden and the NSA.  As the Obama machine spends its days denying and deflecting its way through scandal and incompetence …