A Period Is Questioned in the Declaration of Independence  —  Every Fourth of July, some Americans sit down to read the Declaration of Independence, reacquainting themselves with the nation's founding charter exactly as it was signed by the Second Continental Congress in 1776.  —  Or almost exactly?

Local clergy hand out condoms at Aurora Hobby Lobby store  —  A small group of clergy and representatives from Planned Parenthood handed out condoms Wednesday evening in front of a Hobby Lobby store in Aurora in response to this week's U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving the company.

The Case for Mitt Romney in 2016  —  I'm absolutely serious.  —  No politician wants to be compared to Richard Nixon, but Mitt Romney might like the following.  —  First, consider the similarities in their 1960 and 2012 presidential contests.  Romney and Nixon were both mighty warriors …

Jay Carney: ‘A Little Perspective Is Useful’  —  Now that you're leaving your job as White House press secretary, do you know which cable news network you're going to be a pundit for?  I haven't made any decisions about what combination of things I'm going to be doing.

Cochran presser: Most entertaining conference call ever  —  A conference call set up by the campaign for U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran devolved into a shouting match and then ended, after which time supporters of GOP primary challenger Chris McDaniel chatted for a bit.

Berkeley Requires Marijuana Dispensaries To Provide Free Weed For Low-Income Patients  —  BERKELEY (CBS SF) — The city of Berkeley will require medical marijuana dispensaries to give away two percent of the amount of cannabis they sell each year free to low-income patients.

Garbage-patch tale as flimsy as a single-use plastic bag  —  A new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences could mean bad news for environmental doomsayers.  Forget all those warnings about the million tons of plastic debris floating in the ocean.

DNC will visit six cities vying for 2016 national convention  —  The Democratic National Committee announced Thursday that its site selection team will visit six cities that are vying to host the party's 2016 convention.  —  Birmingham, Ala., Cleveland, Columbus, Ohio, Brooklyn, N.Y., Philadelphia and Phoenix are in the running.

What it's like to be a conservative columnist at the New York Times Yahoo News Wednesday, July 2, 2014  —  ASPEN, Colo. — New York Times columnist David Brooks gets a lot of hate mail.  And he doesn't read the comments section.  —  “I used to read them, but it was just too psychologically damaging …

Ebola ‘out of control’ in West Africa as health workers rush to trace 1,500 possible victims  —  Fear, mistrust of Western medicine and difficulties reaching remote areas mean hundreds of potentially infected people have not yet been found  —  Hundreds of West Africans could be carrying …

Ted Cruz should be ashamed  —  Reasonable people can disagree on whether it would be good to amend the Constitution to overcome the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, but Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) false claims about the proposed amendment have no place in an informed debate.

Faith leaders: Exempt religious groups from order barring LGBT bias in hiring  —  Fourteen prominent faith leaders — including some of President Obama's closest advisers — want the White House to create a religious exemption from his planned executive order banning federal contractors …

NSA ‘totalitarian,’ ex-staffer tells German parliament  —  A former NSA technical chief has told Germany's parliament that the US agency has become a “totalitarian” mass collector of data.  German public broadcasters say the NSA targets individuals who use encryption services.

Veteran Dies Waiting for Ambulance in VA Hospital  —  A veteran who collapsed in an Albuquerque Veteran Affairs hospital cafeteria, 500 yards from the emergency room, died after waiting 30 minutes for an ambulance, officials confirmed Thursday.  —  Officials at the hospital said took a half …

Hickenlooper spends down war chest — Kingston hits Perdue on 'ugly American's eyes' — Lee robocalls in Georgia — Sunlight illuminates FCC rules  —  CO-GOV MONEY RACE RESETS: Fundraising reports Tuesday set the stage for the fall contest between Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper …

Ethics Chair: House Will Reverse Itself on Disclosure of Free Trips  —  The panel's decision to delete a disclosure requirement—as lawmakers' travel climbs—sparked quick criticism.  —  House Ethics Committee Chairman Mike Conaway said Thursday that his panel would undo its controversial decision …

Insurers seeking double-digit ObamaCare premium hikes in NY  —  Insurance firms participating in New York's ObamaCare health exchange are seeking double-digit hikes for patient medical premiums in 2015, new figures reviewed by The Post reveal.  —  The average hike sought by insurers …

Why has Google cast me into oblivion?  —  This morning the BBC received the following notification from Google:  —  Notice of removal from Google Search: we regret to inform you that we are no longer able to show the following pages from your website in response to certain searches on European versions of Google:

DEMOCRATS DECRY BEAUPREZ'S “47 PERCENT” COMMENTS RECORDED ON VIDEO  —  On Wednesday, as Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob Beauprez toured Colorado to “build unity,” a video surfaced that Democrats say shows his divisiveness.  —  The video shows Beauprez in a speech to the Denver Rotary Club …

Alito could have been stopped: Why Dems should have filibustered the radical  —  The man who has wreaked havoc on this country could have been avoided altogether.  Here's why it never happened  —  One of the biggest “tells” in our modern political life is the extent to which the mere mention …

How Obama Lost the Middle East  —  In his first term, Barack Obama all but declared victory in America's Middle East struggles.  —  As he precipitously pulled out all U.S. peacekeepers from Iraq, the president had his own “Mission Accomplished” moment when declaring the country “stable,” …