Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to buy Clippers for $2 billion  —  Former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer won a frenetic bidding war for ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers, with his $2-billion offer setting a record price for an NBA team, The Times has learned.

Edward J. Snowden email inquiry to the NSA Office of General Counsel  —  May 29, 2014  —  NSA has now explained that they have found one email inquiry by Edward Snowden to the Office of General Counsel asking for an explanation of some material that was in a training course he had just completed.

Laverne Cox Talks to TIME About the Transgender Movement  —  The Orange Is the New Black star on politics, happiness and why genitalia isn't destiny  —  On TIME's cover this week is an unlikely icon: Laverne Cox.  Bullied and harassed for appearing feminine while growing up in Mobile …

NBC's Richard Engel: U.S. Relations Have Not Improved With a Single Nation During Obama Presidency  —  On the May 29 edition of CNBC's Squawk Box, Richard Engel, NBC's chief foreign correspondent, conceded that he could not name a single nation where relations have improved …

Students at Utah school upset to discover yearbook photos were altered before publication  —  WASATCH COUNTY, Utah — Female students at a Utah high school want to know why their yearbook photos were altered to show less skin without them knowing about it.  —  The students who were surprised …

Joe The Plumber: ‘Guns Are Mostly For Hunting Down Politicians’  —  Samuel Wurzelbacher — better known as Joe the Plumber — likes guns.  And he wants everyone to know why.  —  “Guns are mostly for hunting down politicians who would actively seek to take your freedoms and liberty away from you …

Vergara v. California: The Most Important Court Case You've Never Heard Of  —  You didn't know that nine California kids were suing their state over substandard teaching at their public schools?  You should—it's an example to all who want equal access to education.

Pryor: Shinseki Shouldn't Resign  —  Seven Democratic senators up for reelection in November have said they believe Veterans Affairs secretary Eric Shinseki should resign over revelations that his department severely mismanaged treatment of veterans at VA hospitals that may have resulted …

Working Families Party Warns Cuomo of a Possible Opponent  —  For weeks now, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, a Democrat seeking re-election this year, has been working behind the scenes to soothe misgivings by the leadership of a small but influential political party made up of labor unions …

Don't Major in Intolerance  —  Universities lie at the heart of the American experiment in democracy.  They are places where people of all backgrounds and beliefs can come to study and debate their ideas freely and openly.  I'd like to talk with you about how important it is for that freedom …

When Bushies blew a CIA cover, it was ‘treason’; now, it's a mistake  —  BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL CIA NATIONAL SECURITY GEORGE W. BUSH SPYING  —  Valerie Plame doesn't deny that blowing the cover of the CIA station chief in Afghanistan is a serious matter.  It's just that, discussing the issue …

Measles cases in the United States reach 20-year high  —  CDC urges vaccination as summer travel season approaches  —  Two hundred and eighty-eight cases of measles were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States between Jan. 1 and May 23, 2014.

Big Money, the Koch Brothers and Me  —  Here's what happens when you try to cover the new oligarchs of American politics.  —  It was a dreary Pacific Northwest evening in February 2012, and President Barack Obama's mood matched the weather.  Despite being among supporters who had gathered …

Conservative Scholar Blames UCSB Shooting On Marriage Equality  —  Blackwell blamed the “attack on natural marriage and the family” for the shooting.  Ken Blackwell is a former Republican official.  He was the mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio State Treasurer, Ohio Secretary of State, and failed-U.S. Senate candidate.

Paul Ryan on being mistaken for Anthony Weiner: 'I don't know how this keeps happening'  —  MOUNT PLEASANT, MI — During his address to a group of Republicans gathered for an event at Bucks Run Golf Club Wednesday, May 28, in Isabella County, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan's main message was that of praise …

9/11 Museum Takes Action on Criticisms  —  After Complaints, Gift-Shop Items to Get Closer Scrutiny From Victims' Relatives  —  NEW YORK—The National September 11 Memorial Museum has won accolades for its exhibitions depicting the terrorist attacks and their aftermath …

In New Orleans, major school district closes traditional public schools for good  —  NEW ORLEANS — The second-graders paraded to the Dumpster in the rear parking lot, where they chucked boxes of old worksheets, notebooks and other detritus into the trash, emptying their school for good.

I killed my first wife, stoned Pakistani woman's husband says  —  Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) — The husband of Farzana Parveen, the Pakistani woman stoned to death for refusing to participate in an arranged marriage, told CNN he killed his first wife so he could marry Parveen.

John Boehner: “I'm Not Qualified To Debate Science Over Climate Change”  —  John Boehner says he's not a scientist.  —  View Video ›  —  House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday that he's “not qualified to debate the science over climate change” while slamming the Obama Administration proposed plans …

Thomas Piketty Responds to Criticism of His Data  —  Six days after The Financial Times launched an attack on the data behind Thomas Piketty's much-debated tome on inequality, “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” Mr. Piketty has offered his first detailed response to the newspaper's criticism.

Doubling Down on a Muddled Foreign Policy  —  The president has somehow managed to combine the worst features of isolationism and multilateralism.

LCR National & LCR Texas Join To Denounce Exclusionary Policy of TX GOP  —  Washington, D.C. & Fort Worth, TX — Today Log Cabin Republicans announced that in the wake of denial of formal participation by gay Republicans at this year's Texas State Republican Convention, they would be joining …

Transcript And Audio: President Obama's Full NPR Interview … NPR's Steve Inskeep interviewed President Obama on Wednesday about foreign policy, including his approaches to Syria, Ukraine and China, as well as his remaining White House priorities and his effort to close Guantanamo Bay prison.

Myanmar's Appalling Apartheid  —  SITTWE, Myanmar — Minura Begum has been in labor for almost 24 hours, and the baby is stuck.  Worse, it's turned around, one tiny foot already emerging into the world in a difficult breech delivery that threatens the lives of mother and child alike.

Ignoring the path to recovery  —  It is said that the problem with the younger generation — any younger generation — is that it has not read the minutes of the last meeting.  Barack Obama, forever young, has convenient memory loss: It serves his ideology.

A Liberal Moderate's Critique of Snowden and Greenwald  —  In a review of Glenn Greenwald's No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State, George Packer, whose best work is superb, makes a number of dubious claims.  They are typical of liberal moderates who acknowledge …

U.S. economy shrinks, but it's not a big deal  —  Brace yourself.  The U.S. economy looks like it went on a roller-coaster ride at the start of the year.  —  Revised numbers released Thursday show the economy shrank in the first quarter, marking the first downturn since early 2011.

The Economy: Don't Look Now, But . . .  News has just crossed the wire this morning that the economy contracted at an annual rate of 1 percent during the first quarter of this year.  Many people will probably point to the brutal winter weather as a factor, though the Dept. of Commerce fingers …