Bradley Manning: I want to live as a woman  — Facebook - Twitter - Reddit - Pinterest - Email  —  Bradley Manning, the Army private sentenced to military prison for leaking classified documents, revealed he intends to live out the remainder of his life as a woman.  —  “I am Chelsea Manning.

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.

Jindal plummets and other notes from Louisiana  —  Three years ago in August PPP declared Bobby Jindal to be the most popular Governor in the country.  58% of voters approved of him to only 34% who disapproved.  Jindal's fortunes have seen an amazing shift since that time though …

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.

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 …

Recession's pain reaching deep into the economic recovery  —  The buying power of Americans continues to be weaker than it was when the recession ended four years ago, underscoring the lasting damage wrought by the downturn, according to a report released Wednesday.

Sparks fly after Sen. Marble's ‘chicken’ comment in poverty hearing  —  DENVER — Democratic lawmakers couldn't believe their ears as they listened to Sen. Vicki Marble, R-Fort Collins, deliver a long soliloquy explaining that more blacks and Hispanics live in poverty, in part, because of fried chicken.

The anti-Clinton media — here we go again  —  Not everyone is as apparently obsessed with writing vitriol about the Clintons as Maureen Dowd, the New York Times's op-ed columnist.  For example, last Saturday, Dowd compared the Clintons to the self-destructive cartoon character Wile E. Coyote.

Obama Hasn't Evolved on Pot — Yet  —  President Barack Obama doesn't favor changing marijuana laws “at this point” but he also believes that federal law enforcement resources should not be focused on individual users, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Wednesday.

Statement by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest on Allegations of Chemical Weapons Use in Syria  —  The United States is deeply concerned by reports that hundreds of Syrian civilians have been killed in an attack by Syrian government forces, including by the use of chemical weapons, near Damascus earlier today.

NSA scandal looms large in German election  —  ‘Germany is not a nation of surveillance.  Germany is a nation of freedom,’ Merkel says.  AP Photo  —  Close  —  BERLIN — It's election season in Germany and there's one campaign issue that won't go away: the NSA surveillance scandal.

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.”

The great Democrat hope: Government shutdown  —  They'd never say it publicly.  But catch many Democrats in an honest moment and they would admit that a Republican-led government shut down this fall might be the best thing — perhaps the only thing — that could revive their fading hopes of capturing the House next year.

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 …

U.P.S. to End Health Benefits for Spouses of Some Workers  —  United Parcel Service has told its white-collar employees that it will stop providing health care coverage to their spouses who can obtain coverage through their own employers, joining an increasing number of companies that are restricting …

Proposed Filner settlement reached  —  City Attorney Jan Goldsmith said Wednesday night that a proposed resolution has been reached to a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Mayor Bob Filner and the city.  —  Goldsmith said the City Council, which must approve any settlement, will review the proposal on Friday.

Obama's Plan Aims to Lower Cost of College  —  President Obama plans to announce a set of ambitious proposals on Thursday aimed at making colleges more accountable and affordable by rating them and ultimately linking those ratings to financial aid.  —  A draft of the proposal …

Jeffrey Singer: The Man Who Was Treated for $17,000 Less  —  Bypassing his third-party payer, my patient avoided a high hospital ‘list price.’  —  Every so often I have an extraordinary and surprising experience with a patient—the kind that makes us both say, “Wow, we've learned something from this.”

Accepting Scalia's Offer, Arizona Sues Obama Administration On Voting Rights  —  Arizona and Kansas have taken Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's suggestion and sued the Obama administration in a continuing effort by both states to require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote.

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 …