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.

The Movement to Defund Obamacare, Explained  —  The activists pushing the latest Tea Party cause can't explain how their effort to stop health-care reform could ever possibly succeed.  Will they shut down the government?  —  The Tea Party has a new obsession: killing Obamacare by stripping the funding needed to implement the law.

University of Virginia cuts some health benefits, citing ObamaCare costs  —  The University of Virginia said Wednesday that it will stop offering health insurance to some employees' spouses because of rising costs under ObamaCare.  —  The university said the Affordable Care Act will add $7.3 million to its healthcare costs next year.

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.

Ted Cruz, traitor to his class  —  Henry Adams said that politics is the systematic organization of hatreds.  For the left, over the past year it has seemed at times to be the systematic organization of hatred of Ted Cruz.  —  The freshman senator is not the first Texan to be so honored.

Why Assad Will Win  —  The U.S. is giving up on the Arab Spring, and the Syrian dictator knows it.  —  This undated photo posted on the official Instagram account of the Syrian Presidency purports to show Bashar Assad visiting with soldiers in Baba Armr, Homs province, Syria.

Meet the privileged Obama-supporting white kids who perpetrated cruel Oberlin race hoax  —  One of the two students removed from Oberlin College earlier this year for allegedly circulating virulently racist, anti-Jewish and anti-gay messages around campus is an ardent leftist and committed supporter …

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 …

Police: Texas Lt. Gov. Dewhurst Asked to Get Relative Out of Jail  —  In statement, Dewhurst says he acted as “concerned family member”  —  The Allen Police Department released the full audio of a call Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst made to police to find out what he had to do to get a recently arrested relative out of jail.

Speaking in Raleigh, Colin Powell blasts North Carolina voting law  —  UPDATED: With Gov. Pat McCrory in the audience, former Secretary of State Colin Powell took aim at North Carolina's new voting law Thursday, saying it hurts the Republican Party, punishes minority voters and makes it more difficult for everyone to vote.

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.

GALLUP: UNEMPLOYMENT RATE JUMPS FROM 7.7% TO 8.9% IN 30 DAYS  —  'Outside of the federal government's Bureau of Labor statistics, the Gallup polling organization also tracks the nation's unemployment rate.  While the BLS and Gallup findings might not always perfectly align …

GOP poll finds strong opposition to government shutdown  —  BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL CONGRESS OBAMACARE GOVERNMENT HEALTH CARE  —  A new poll done for Republican members of Congress has found huge public opposition, and solid opposition among Republicans, to the idea of shutting down the government over the issue of funding Obamacare.

The rich, summed up: Nepotism, cronyism, narcissism  —  The New York Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin defends corrupt hiring practices  —  Here's what we know about the rich: They have a lot more money than everyone else, and they have more money than everyone else by a larger margin than they used to.

King's Dream Remains an Elusive Goal; Many Americans See Racial Disparities  —  Five decades after Martin Luther King's historic “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C., a new survey by the Pew Research Center finds that fewer than half (45%) of all Americans say the country …

Liz Cheney Pays Fine For Fishy Fishing License  —  Republican Wyoming Senate candidate Liz Cheney paid a $220 bond Wednesday for making a false statement on an application for a fishing license last year, Jackson Hole News&Guide reported.  —  Records show that the daughter …

Russia Defends Anti-Gay Law in Letter to IOC  —  The Russian government assured the IOC on Thursday it will not discriminate against homosexuals during the Sochi Olympics, while defending the law against gay “propaganda” that has provoked an international backlash.