How Oklahoma Botched an Execution  —  Clayton Lockett's lethal injection suffered a problem more fundamental than the drugs  —  On Tuesday night, after Oklahoma botched the lethal injection of Clayton Lockett, the director of the Department of Corrections said Lockett's vein had not only “blown,” but actually “exploded.”

Senate Republicans Filibuster Minimum Wage Hike  —  As expected, Senate Republicans voted on Wednesday to block debate on legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour.  —  The procedural motion to begin debate received 54 votes for, and 42 against — short of the 60 needed to break a filibuster.

Warriors Had the Blueprint For a Dramatic Boycott Ready to Go  —  The plan was set, the product of a 30-minute players meeting.  The Warriors were going to go through pre-game warm-ups and take part in the national anthem and starting line-up introductions.

White House Directed Incorrect Benghazi Narrative  —  Newly-released emails: “Video” to blame, “not a broader failure or policy.”  —  Newly-released documents reveal direct White House involvement in steering the public narrative about the September 11, 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi …

Senate Democrats plan vote to reverse Citizens United decision  —  Senate Democrats will schedule a vote this year on a constitutional amendment to reform campaign finance as they face tens of millions of dollars worth of attack ads from conservative groups.

Is Barry Whiffing?  —  WASHINGTON — Stop whining, Mr. President.  —  And stop whiffing.  —  Don't whinge off the record with columnists and definitely don't do it at a press conference with another world leader.  It is disorienting to everybody, here at home and around the world.

Looking for complaints, Rick Scott instead finds praise for Obamacare  —  Scott meet with seniors looking for Obamacare horror stories, but found little complaints.  —  Sun Sentinel  —  BOCA RATON— Gov. Rick Scott visited a senior center Tuesday to warn about cuts he said Obamacare …

Scientific American Editor: Fox Told Me I Couldn't Talk About Climate Change  —  An editor with Scientific American magazine said Wednesday he was shot down by a Fox News producer when he said he wanted to talk about the impacts of climate change.  —  Michael Moyer appeared on “Fox & Friends” …

Americans in large numbers want the U.S. to reduce its role in world affairs, a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds  —  Americans in large numbers want the U.S. to reduce its role in world affairs even as a showdown with Russia over Ukraine preoccupies Washington, a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.

The Onion sets its sights on BuzzFeed, Upworthy  —  Finally!  The Onion is taking on BuzzFeed and Upworthy on their turf.  —  This June the satire site — stuck for now in the hopelessly 20th century business of spoofing reported, written news articles — will launch Clickhole.com.  —  What's that?

Bill Clinton plays professor, blasts media in Georgetown speech  —  Washington (CNN) - Former President Bill Clinton's lecture on Wednesday had everything a Georgetown class usually has: A high profile professor, some carefully crafted slides and a handful of students dozing in their oversized sweatshirts.

Two Giant Banks, Seen as Immune, Become Targets  —  Federal prosecutors are nearing criminal charges against some of the world's biggest banks, according to lawyers briefed on the matter, a development that could produce the first guilty plea from a major bank in more than two decades.

Once opposed to ACA, now a convert  —  Dean Angstadt fells trees for a living.  —  He's a self-employed, self-sufficient logger who has cleared his own path for most of his 57 years, never expecting help from anyone.  And even though he'd been uninsured since 2009, he especially wanted nothing to do with the Affordable Care Act.

Rick Santorum tells GOP group he's ‘not sure’ if the party cares about poor people as much as Democrats do  — At a meeting of conservatives, Santorum was asked for his thoughts on the Earned Income Tax Credit  — As part of his response to the question, Santorum said he's 'not sure …

China poised to pass US as world's leading economic power this year  —  Central Shanghai: China is likely to be the world's richest country by next year  —  The US is on the brink of losing its status as the world's largest economy, and is likely to slip behind China this year …

The politics of science fiction  —  Glenn Reynolds, of Instapundit fame, has an interesting column on the political battle over this year's Hugo Awards, the most prestigious prizes for science fiction writers: … Glenn links to a post by Correia where the latter describes the hostility …