Obama is done even pretending to work with Republicans  —  If you can't beat 'em, ignore 'em  —  P  —  resident Obama is going solo.  —  Having seen his ambitious agenda run aground against Republican recalcitrance, Obama is pivoting to a more unilateral approach to achieve his goals.

Boehner: I'd rather kill myself than raise the minimum wage  —  Speaker John Boehner is so against raising the minimum wage that he once said he would rather commit suicide than vote for a “clean” increase.  —  The Ohio Republican and son of a barkeep has repeatedly opposed federally mandated hike increases …

SC colleges under fire about book, course choices  —  Some S.C. public colleges are coming under fire for the books they assign students and whether they follow a state law requiring instruction on the U.S. founding documents.  —  S.C. House budget writers voted Wednesday to take away nearly $70,000 …

The myth of ‘settled science’  —  Irepeat: I'm not a global warming believer.  I'm not a global warming denier.  I've long believed that it cannot be good for humanity to be spewing tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.  I also believe that those scientists who pretend to know exactly …

Hillary Clinton Maintains Positive Image in U.S.  —  American public's opinion of Vice President Joe Biden is mixed  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — A clear majority of Americans, 59%, still view Hillary Clinton favorably a year after she left her post as secretary of state.

Ukraine rivals agree early election  —  Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and opposition leaders have signed a deal leading to an early presidential poll before the end of the year.  —  The election is part of an agreement to end the country's political crisis.

‘House of Cards’ threatens to leave if Maryland comes up short on tax credits  —  A few weeks before Season 2 of “House of Cards” debuted online, the show's production company sent Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley a letter with this warning: Give us millions more dollars in tax credits, or we will …

Has Anyone in America Actually Been Harmed by Obamacare?  —  I'm beginning to think there's not actually a single person in America who's been harmed by Obamacare.  I know that seems unlikely, but take a look at the latest AFP ad pounding Obamacare.  It features Julie Boonstra …

The First Lady Did A Sketch With Jimmy Fallon And Will Ferrell In Drag (VIDEO)  —  First Lady Michelle Obama appeared on “The Tonight Show” on Thursday with newly minted host Jimmy Fallon.  The two eventually discussed Obamacare and the first lady's “Let's Move” campaign …

Measure pits freedom against discrimination  —  FONT:  —  The Arizona Legislature has passed a controversial religion bill that is again thrusting Arizona into the national spotlight in a debate over discrimination.  —  House Bill 2153, written by the conservative advocacy group Center …

Ratings: Is CNN's Piers Morgan Shooting Himself in the Foot?  —  In the end, are guns what killed CNN's “Piers Morgan Live”?  —  The show, hosted by anti-gun crusader Morgan, continues to struggle in the Nielsens.  And this month, the start of the Michael Dunn loud-music murder trial …

VIDEO: Manchin speaks on a variety of topics; answers questions  —  Minimum wage, health care and budget discussed — but not expected recent water legislation  —  BECKLEY — Although Sen. Joe Manchin had planned to discuss the Charleston-area chemical spill and his recent piece of legislation …

Writing The Snowden Files: ‘The paragraph began to self-delete’  —  Was it the NSA?  GCHQ?  A Russian hacker?  Who was secretly reading his book on Snowden while he wrote it, wonders Luke Harding  —  One day last summer - a short while after Edward Snowden revealed himself as the source behind …

Go Ahead, Let Your Kids Fail  —  I'm on the road this week, giving talks on my new book about learning to fail better: that is, first, to give ourselves the permission to take on challenges where we might very well fail; second, to pick ourselves up as quickly as possible and move on when things don't work out.

McCain: Obama the ‘most naive president’  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Thursday called President Obama “the most naïve president in history” because of his foreign policy tactics.  —  Russian President Vladimir Putin “played us so incredibly,” McCain said on a Phoenix radio station.

Democrats' Best Weapon for Midterms: Fear of a Red Senate  —  Control of the Senate depends on turnout in November.  Democrats need to tap what scares their base most: fear of an unrestrained GOP.  —  We've known for a long time now that the Democrats have a lot of Senate seats to defend …

Republicans Suddenly Can't Stop Talking About “Mobility”  —  Too bad GOP policies are undercutting it  —  The GOP's response to widening inequality has long been similar to Sinclair Lewis's Babbitt: “The sooner a man learns he isn't going to be coddled, and he needn't expect a lot of free grub and …

Tenn. official ‘threatened’ blacks with skin ‘trophy’ he saved from 1896 lynching  —  The state of Tennessee has fired a veteran investigator because officials believed that he attempted to use violent stories about how his relatives participated in a lynching to intimidate African-Americans …

CBS 2 Exclusive: De Blasio's Caravan Caught Speeding, Violating Traffic Laws  —  NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Just days after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced an aggressive plan to prevent traffic deaths, CBS 2 cameras caught the driver of a car carrying the mayor violating a number of traffic laws.

US Framework to Demand that PA Recognize Israel as Jewish State  —  US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro declared Friday that the Palestinian Authority (PA) will be obligated to recognize Israel as a Jewish state under the US framework agreement - despite the PA's ongoing defiance over the issue.

Exclusive: The Dalai Lama Talks Pot, Facebook and the Pope With TIME  —  The Tibetan spiritual leader also offers surprising praise for China's new leader  —  Ahead of a lengthy two-week tour of the U.S. west coast, the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, spoke with TIME religion …