Photos of Rand Paul at party in the Hamptons catch Iowans' attention  —  The Republican potential presidential candidate said he had to miss a Christian conservative event in Iowa because of a family commitment  —  An Iowa evangelical Christian leader stood on stage and told the 1,200 conservatives …

PLATON  —  I am staying at the Hotel Metropol, a whimsical sand-colored monument to pre-revolutionary art nouveau.  Built during the time of Czar Nicholas II, it later became the Second House of the Soviets after the Bolsheviks took over in 1917.  In the restaurant, Lenin would harangue …

America Is Not For Black People  —  The United States of America is not for black people.  We know this, and then we put it out of our minds, and then something happens to remind us.  Saturday, in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Mo., something like that happened: An unarmed 18-year-old black man …

U.S. Team Lands on Iraqi Mountain to Plan Evacuation  —  EDGARTOWN, Mass. — American military advisers landed on Mount Sinjar in Iraq early Wednesday to begin assessing how to organize an evacuation of the thousands of Yazidi refugees under siege from Sunni militants, an American official said.

How Libertarians Snookered The New York Times Magazine  —  Anatomy of a journalistic train wreck.  —  Shares  —  The premise underpinning Robert Draper's New York Times Magazine cover story on the “Libertarian Moment” is that libertarians offer the cure for the Republican Party's political difficulties.

Calling All Sad Clowns  —  I put a disclaimer at the front of my Robin Williams post today, cautioning that my very quick look at the guy's political comedy was a sidebar of a sidebar.  Despite that, I've gotten some irritated email and tweets asking why I wrote a “takedown” of a dead guy and “politicized” his death.

Fox doc steps up FLOTUS grilling  —  Fox News psychiatrist Dr. Keith Ablow does not think that First Lady Michelle Obama is a fit role model on fitness, calling the first lady “two-faced” on Wednesday.  —  “I do dislike hypocrisy and I really do believe that people speaking about diet …

New York state senate candidate halts her campaign because of recent extramarital affair  —  Gia Arnold, a 24-year-old Republican candidate for state Senate from the Niagara Falls area, abruptly halted her campaign early Wednesday because of an extramarital affair she began just days ago.

Hillary Clinton Doesn't Have A Problem On Her Left  —  Hillary Clinton's recent hawkish comments about foreign policy, in which she expressed some disagreements with President Obama, have inspired reporting and speculation that liberal Democrats will grow disillusioned with her ahead of a possible presidential bid in 2016.

Police Fatally Shoot Man in South L.A.; Family Members Say He Was Lying Down When Shot … Family members said Tuesday that a 25-year-old man was complying with police orders when he was fatally shot by LAPD officers in the Florence neighborhood South Los Angeles.

RNC Condemns AP Exam's ‘Radically Revisionist View’ Of U.S. History  —  The Republican National Committee on Friday denounced the College Board's new framework for the AP U.S. History exam for its “consistently negative view of American history.”  —  The committee adopted a resolution during …

Obama Donors Altman, Effron Embrace Deals President Slams  —  President Barack Obama has been bashing companies that pursue offshore mergers to reduce taxes.  He hasn't talked about the people behind the deals — some of whom are his biggest donors.  —  Executives, advisers and directors involved …

Lauren Bacall Dies at 89; in a Bygone Hollywood, She Purred Every Word  —  Lauren Bacall, the actress whose provocative glamour elevated her to stardom in Hollywood's golden age and whose lasting mystique put her on a plateau in American culture that few stars reach, died on Tuesday in New York.

Florida man accused of killing his roommate asked Siri where to hide the body, court hears  —  US police say a Florida man accused of killing his roommate asked Apple's digital assistant Siri for advice on hiding the body the day the man went missing.  —  Pedro Bravo, 20, is accused …

Hanabusa to sue Office of Elections to push back Puna election date  —  With power and communications still out in some Puna neighborhoods, Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa says that now is not the time to hold an election.  —  Hanabusa, who trails Sen. Brian Schatz by 1,600 votes …

Father Shoots Teen Daughter Mistaken for Intruder  — Many buy guns to protect themselves against crime, but for one father in Frederick County a split decision to use his gun backfired after he accidentally shot his 16-year-old daughter.  —  “[A] male subject stated …