Sources: Miss. tea party leader Mayfield commits suicide  —  Sources have confirmed that attorney Mark Mayfield has committed suicide.  —  Mayfield, vice chairman of the Mississippi Tea Party, and is one of the three men charged with conspiring with Clayton Kelly to photograph U.S …

Congressional candidate feels opponent is a body double … OKLAHOMA CITY - An Oklahoma congressional candidate has announced he plans to contest Tuesday's primary election of long time Rep. Frank Lucas.  —  In a bizarre letter obtained by NewsChannel 4, Tim Murray says he doesn't feel Rep. Lucas is qualified for office.

Is The Times Ignoring a Scandal at the I.R.S.?  —  Has The Times been interested enough in the politically charged events involving the Internal Revenue Service?  —  Many readers don't think so.  One, Harry Koenig of Monroe Township, New Jersey, wrote to me this week with strong words of criticism.

Is climate change destabilizing Iraq?  —  This winter was not a good one for farmers in the Fertile Crescent.  —  A punishing drought hit most of Syria and northern Iraq during what's normally the wettest time of the year.  In the mountains of eastern Turkey, which form the headwaters …

Democrats: No bluff, Obama will go it alone on immigration  —  The Obama administration is “not bluffing” in its intent to take executive action on immigration policy if House Republicans don't act soon, top Democratic leaders warned Thursday.  —  President Obama has delayed any potential changes …

TNR is lying again: “80 Percent of Conservatives Think the Poor ‘Have It Easy.’”  —  That headline refers to the results of a test — which I linked to here — used by the Pew Research Center to sort Americans into various groups, like “Young Outsider” and “Business Conservative,” based on their political predilections.

Report: Mexican Military Chopper Crosses Into US, Shoots At Border Agents  —  TUCSON, Ariz. (CBS Las Vegas/AP) — Border Patrol agents in Arizona were reportedly fired upon by a Mexican military helicopter that traveled across the border.  —  Mexican authorities were conducting …

How the Guardian played down the assassination that sparked world war  —  Murder of archduke would have no ‘salient effect’ on Europe, declared Manchester Guardian, just 37 days before war erupted  —  “It is not to be supposed,” wrote a correspondent for the Manchester Guardian analysing …

Matt Drudge gives rare interview on WTOP Friday … WASHINGTON — More than the gridlock in Washington, political commentator Matt Drudge is concerned with immigration and the situation at America's border.  —  “I know there are big fights throughout the country,” he says.

The U.S. military's ongoing slur of Native Americans  —  Simon Waxman is managing editor of Boston Review.  —  Resistance to the Washington Redskins team name has ebbed and flowed over the years, but thanks in part to letters from 50 senators to the team's owner, Dan Snyder …