Gingrich: Republicans have ‘zero’ health care ideas  —  Boston (CNN) - Former House Speaker and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich reprimanded his fellow Republicans in unusually harsh terms Wednesday, blaming GOP members of Congress for developing “zero” alternatives to President Obama's health care reform law.

Egypt awakes from curfew as official death toll rises to 421  —  Cairo and 14 other provinces in Egypt awoke from a curfew Thursday following the bloodiest day since the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi by the country's military.  —  Egypt's Health Ministry said Thursday morning …

Hillary Clinton considering academic options  —  Hillary Clinton is fielding offers from colleges and universities — including Harvard and her law school alma mater, Yale — to give her a formal academic role, a move that would give her a platform outside her family's foundation.

Stockman invites Missouri rodeo clown to perform in Texas  —  Liberals want to bronco bust dissent, create a state of fear  —  WASHINGTON — Congressman Steve Stockman Wednesday invited the rodeo clowns who performed at the Missouri State Fair, and were banned or ordered into “sensitivity training” …

Love: Obama Played Cards During Osama Raid; 'I Can't Watch This Entire Thing,' Obama Said  —  Reggie Love says he and President Obama played cards during the Osama bin Laden raid, and that the president told him, “I can't watch this entire thing.”  —  “Most people were like down in the Situation Room and …

WikiLeaks: Manning's apology was forced  —  WikiLeaks late Wednesday described Bradley Manning's apology as “forced” but, nonetheless, called on a court to take “compassion” and “understanding” into account during his sentencing.  —  Earlier Wednesday, the former Army intelligence analyst apologized …

Obama's Economic Approval Slips to 35%  —  Was 42% in June; decline mirrors drop in overall approval  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Despite President Barack Obama's renewed focus on the nation's economy this summer, crisscrossing the country to talk about job creation, he scores worse with Americans on the economy than he did in June.

California Supreme Court Denies Requests To Stop Same-Sex Couples' Marriages  —  “The petition for a writ of mandate is denied.”  —  Jana Asenbrennerova / Reuters  —  WASHINGTON — Two challenges to same-sex couples' marriage rights in California were turned away by the state's Supreme Court Wednesday.

Obama's unconstitutional steps worse than Nixon's  —  President Obama's increasingly grandiose claims for presidential power are inversely proportional to his shriveling presidency.  Desperation fuels arrogance as, barely 200 days into the 1,462 days of his second term …

Labrador to seek third term in Congress, not run for governor  —  1st District Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador announced this afternoon that he'll seek a third term in Congress, not run for governor.  “I've decided to end all the speculation and announce that I have no plans at this time to run for Governor …

More Fast and Furious guns surface at crimes in Mexico  —  Three more weapons from Fast and Furious have turned up at crime scenes in Mexico, CBS News has learned, as the toll from the controversial federal operation grows.  —  According to Justice Department tracing documents obtained by CBS News …

Orson Scott Card Worries About Obama Turning “Urban Gangs” Into His Personal Police Force  —  Taking a break from plotting to recruit thugs for his private mafia, President Obama vacations in Martha's Vineyard.  —  The controversy over Orson Scott Card's opposition to gay marriage appears to have simmered down.

Source: New York Times Website Hit by Cyber Attack  —  The corporate and media sites of The New York Times (NYT) experienced a lengthy outage on Wednesday that a source close to the matter said appeared to be caused by a cyber attack, although the newspaper cited a scheduled maintenance update.

Ohio's Kasich Seeks a Softer GOP  —  Gov. John Kasich Promotes Blend of Conservative Orthodoxy Leavened With Liberal Policies  —  COLUMBUS, Ohio—Digging into a bowl of chicken soup at a Bob Evans restaurant, John Kasich does what comes naturally to governors: He boasts about his state's financial outlook.

Divining the Regulatory Goals of Fed Rivals  —  WASHINGTON — Lawrence H. Summers, as Treasury secretary, presided over the group of senior Clinton administration officials who reached the fateful decision in the late 1990s that there was no need to regulate a new family of financial transactions known as over-the-counter derivatives.

Behind an Ethanol Special Favor  —  An Alon USA Energy refinery in Louisiana was the only one—out of 143—exempted from an EPA mandate.  Why?  —  Why does the public demand transparency in government?  Read on.  —  Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency issued …

Sequestration Ushers In A Dark Age For Science In America  —  CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — On the first floor of Jordan Hall at the University of Virginia School of Medicine is a 12-by-8 room that, at first glance, looks like a rundown storage space.  The floor is a mix of white, teal and purple tiles, in a pattern reminiscent of the 1970s.

For Olympics' Corporate Sponsors, Tough Questions That Most Are Eager To Avoid  —  But GE steps forward over LGBT rights in Russia: “We expect the IOC to uphold human rights in every aspect of the Games.”  Other Olympics sponsors back the International Olympic Committee attempt to avoid conflict with Putin.