Obama tells CNN key decisions nearing on Syria, Egypt  —  (CNN) — The time is nearing for a potentially definitive U.S. response to alleged Syrian government atrocities and an increasingly violent military crackdown in Egypt, President Barack Obama said in an exclusive interview broadcast Friday on CNN's “New Day.”

Obama's higher ed plan — a power grab, not a shake-up  —  President Obama has announced a plan that he claims will make “college more affordable, tackle rising costs, and improve value for students and their families.”  The key elements of his plan are (1) a federal college-rating system …

WWII vet, beaten by teens outside Eagles Lodge, dies  —  Author: Ian Cull, KXLY4 Multimedia Journalist, ianc@kxly.com  —  WWII veteran Delbert Belton survived being wounded in action during the Battle of Okinawa only to be beaten and left for dead by two teens at the Eagles Lodge in Spokane on Wednesday evening.

UPS to End Health Coverage for Some Spouses  —  United Parcel Service Inc. is ending health-insurance benefits for U.S. nonunion employees' spouses who can get coverage elsewhere.  It blames the change on the new health-care law.  —  UPS estimates that 15,000 of the 33,000 spouses it covers …

Tom Coburn: Obama “Getting Perilously Close” To The Standard For Impeachment  —  “If it continues, I think we're going to have another constitutional crisis in our country in terms of the presidency.”  —  View Video ›  —  Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn said Wednesday …

No, Chris Lane is not Trayvon Martin!  —  The white conservative media thinks it's found its “Trayvon Martin in reverse, only worse.”  Are you kidding me?  —  The white conservative media believes it has its own Trayvon Martin in the case of Chris Lane, an Australian baseball player …

Sources: Koch Industries not buying LA Times, Chicago Tribune  —  Koch Industries will not be buying the Tribune Company's eight newspapers, which include the Chicago Tribune and the LA Times, The Daily Caller has learned.  —  Sources with knowledge of the business proceedings told …

Dems watch as Christie rolls  —  New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has made little secret that he wants a resounding win in his reelection this year as a show of strength for his all-but-assumed 2016 presidential candidacy.  —  And Democrats appear perfectly willing to comply.

Boehner ups the ante for a budget showdown in September  —  Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told House Republicans on Thursday that he wants to push through a temporary spending measure that incorporates automatic cuts, upping the ante for a September budget showdown.

Rasmussen Reports Announces a Change in Management  —  For Immediate Release  —  Asbury Park, NJ, August 22, 2013 — The Rasmussen Reports, LLC Board of Directors today confirmed that founder Scott Rasmussen left the company last month.  In part, the move reflects disagreements over company business strategies.

Bradley Manning, Now Chelsea, Denied Hormones in Prison … U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is escorted to a security vehicle outside a courthouse in Fort Meade, Md., after a hearing in his court martial, Aug. 20, 2013; Manning poses wearing a wig and lipstick in a handout photo provided by the U.S. Army.

U.S. sues Texas over voter ID (FURTHER UPDATED)  —  FURTHER UPDATE 4:35 p.m. The text of the motion to intervene in the San Antonio redistricting case is here.  The legal complaint of the United States as intervenor is here.  —  UPDATE 4:05 p.m. The text of the new lawsuit against the Texas voter ID law is here.

Obama's ‘outside experts’ for NSA review are former intel and White House staffers  —  ABC reports that the Obama administration's surveillance review panel will include former intelligence and White House staffers, including Michael Morell, Richard Clarke, Cass Sunstein and Peter Swire.

Al Gore isn't even honest about his own movie.  —  In case you've forgotten, “Al Gore was vice president of the United States from 1993-2001.”  The Washington Post's Ezra Klein delivers that news in setting up an interview with Gore, who is known these days mostly as an alarmist advocate of global warmism.

George Zimmerman Shops For Tactical Shotgun  —  SHOPS FOR TACTICAL SHOTGUN  —  EXCLUSIVE  —  George Zimmerman was on the hunt today — for a shotgun ... TMZ has learned.  —  Zimmerman went to Kel-Tec in Cocoa, Florida ... a gun manufacturing company.  We're told he was asking questions …

Theater owner won't show ‘Lee Daniels’ The Butler'  —  Boutwell has policy against showing Fonda movies  —  Last weekend's top movie for ticket sales isn't coming to Hardin County.  —  Lee Daniels' The Butler" brought in an estimated $25 million on its opening weekend with its portrayal of Cecil Gaines …