NSA gathered thousands of Americans' e-mails before court struck down program  —  The National Security Agency unlawfully gathered as many as tens of thousands of e-mails and other electronic communications between Americans as part of a now-discontinued collection program, according to a 2011 secret court opinion.

Poll: Louisiana GOPers Unsure If Katrina Response Was Obama's Fault  —  A significant chunk of Louisiana Republicans evidently believe that President Barack Obama is to blame for the poor response to the hurricane that ravaged their state more than three years before he took office.

Maureen Dowd: I ‘screwed up’  —  New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd says she “screwed up” by misquoting the wife of New York City mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio in her recent column and attributed the mistake to a “noisy” coffee shop.  —  “I screwed up.  The coffee shop was so noisy, my tape recorder didn't pick up everything.

Breaking news: Cheney pays $220 for fishing license ticket  —  Angus M. Thuermer Jr., Jackson Hole News&Guide  —  U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Lynne Cheney posted a $220 bond in Ninth Circuit Court in Teton County on Monday on a charge of making a false statement to procure a fishing license.

Judge sentences Bradley Manning to 35 years  —  A military judge on Wednesday morning sentenced Army Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.  —  Manning, 25, was convicted last month of multiple charges …

Wentworth Miller rejects Russian film festival invitation; ‘As a gay man, I must decline’  —  Actor and screenwriter Wentworth Miller today rejected an invitation to attend the St. Petersburg International Film Festival, citing Russia's anti-LGBT laws.  In a letter to the Festival's Director …

White House eyes ‘gun trust’ loophole  —  The Obama administration is working to close a loophole in the nation's gun laws that allows for some machine guns and sawed-off shotguns to be sold without the buyer submitting fingerprints or photographs.  —  The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco …

‘Senseless’ shooting of Australian Chris Lane sparks calls for U.S. boycott  —  (CNN) — They were younger than him, just teenagers who were driving around, apparently bored and looking for somebody to kill, according to police in Duncan, Oklahoma.  —  The indiscriminate shooting of Christopher Lane …

Illinois Offering $9-An-Hour Jobs To Have Workers Sign People Up For ‘Obamacare’  —  CHICAGO — Working on a tight timeframe, Illinois is building an 800-person army of temporary workers to help people sign up for health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

Egypt's Coptic Christians face unprecedented reprisals from the Muslim Brotherhood  —  CAIRO — Islamist mobs have torched schools and businesses owned by Christians, looted churches and even paraded captive nuns through the streets of a city south of Cairo in a display of rage unseen in Egypt's recent history.

U.S. Suspects Syria Used Gas  —  Rebels Say at Least 1,100 Killed by Chemical Weapons; U.N. Asks to Investigate  —  The U.S. sees “strong indications” that Syria's government used chemical weapons in attacks early Wednesday that opposition groups claimed killed more than 1,100 people …

(Credit: Michael Lionstar)  —  I can vividly remember the first time I read Camille Paglia.  I was visiting New York with my mom during college and we happened across “Vamps and Tramps” at a bookstore near our hotel.  Lying in neighboring twin beds, I read passages out loud to her.

Beau Biden in ‘great shape’ after procedure  —  (CNN) - Beau Biden, who traveled to Texas this week for medical tests, successfully underwent a procedure Tuesday and is currently in “great shape,” the White House said Wednesday.  —  The Delaware attorney general and son of Vice President Joe Biden …

Brown opts out of run for Mass. governor  —  Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) said Wednesday night he will not run for Massachusetts governor in 2014.  —  Brown said he wanted to remain in the private sector, noting that another run for public office would take a lot of “thought, analysis, money and sometimes personal sacrifice.”

Fox News firing tied to Ailes book  —  The decision last month by Fox News chief Roger Ailes to fire his top communications executive, Brian Lewis, was due to a number of factors, including what the network's parent company 21st Century Fox has described as “financial irregularities” and breaches of contract.

Feds running out of wildfire money  —  Running out of money to fight wildfires at the peak of the season, the U.S. Forest Service is diverting $600 million from timber, recreation and other areas to fill the gap.  —  The nation's top wildfire-fighting agency was down to $50 million …

Rep. Clyburn likens American media to Nazi propagandists  —  Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the third-ranking House Democrat, on Wednesday accused the U.S. media of spreading “manufactured controversies” that pose dangers similar to the propaganda spread by the Nazis during the Holocaust.