Wrong Turn on Syria: No Convincing Plan  —  President Obama has put America at the center of a widening war by expanding into Syria airstrikes against the Islamic State, the Sunni extremist group known as ISIS and ISIL.  He has done this without allowing the public debate that needs to take place …

UPDATE |  Jim Traficant in ‘very critical’ condition after accident at farm  —  GREENFORD — Ex-U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. is in “very critical condition” after an accident on his family farm, his wife, Tish Traficant, said today.  —  The former congressman, 73, is …

Full text of Barack Obama's speech to the UN General Assembly  —  President Barack Obama addresses the UN following US air strikes against Isil targets in Syria  —  Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General, fellow delegates, ladies and gentlemen: we come together at a crossroads between war and peace …

Reporters say White House sometimes demands changes to press-pool reports  —  White House press-pool reports are supposed to be the news media's eyes and ears on the president, an independent chronicle of his public activities.  They are written by reporters for other reporters …

Barack Obama roasted over ‘Starbucks salute’  —  Many criticized the coffee-in-hand salute by Obama.  White House Instagram

Conservative lawmakers secretly plot to oust John Boehner  —  For months, several clusters of conservative lawmakers have been secretly huddling inside and outside the Capitol, plotting to oust John Boehner from the Speaker's office when House Republicans regroup after the November elections.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Why I can't resign now  —  Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is pushing back against suggestions that she should soon retire, saying President Barack Obama would be unable to get a justice like her through the Senate.  —  “Who do you think President Obama …

New York Times Promotes Editors, in Change of Leadership Structure  —  The executive editor of The New York Times announced broad changes to the newspaper's leadership Wednesday, replacing titles that had been used for decades and promoting several senior editors.

State rep candidate voted in Illinois and Wisconsin  —  Republican Kathy Myalls is urging voters to elect her to a seat in the Illinois State Legislature.  —  But will she vote for herself?  —  It's a fair question, since records show Myalls has voted in both Illinois and Wisconsin in recent years.

French hostage Herve Gourdel ‘beheaded in Algeria’  —  An Algerian jihadist group has released a video that appears to show the beheading of French tourist Herve Gourdel, who was seized on Sunday.  —  Jund al-Khilafa, an ally of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria and Iraq …

Southern Baptists Kick Out Gay-Friendly Church  —  The Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the nation's largest protestant denomination, has kicked out a California church whose pastor embraces homosexuality, claiming that the minister and the church are not in …

What if we applied feminist logic to other crimes?  —  BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL CRIME FEMINISM CAMPUS SEXUAL ASSAULT  —  Feminists have been arguing that it's “victim-blaming” to suggest steps that women can take to reduce the risk of being sexual assaulted.  But what if that same logic were applied to all crime prevention tips?

Facebook to cut ties with conservative policy group  —  Facebook will possibly end its relationship with a controversial conservative policy organization over its stance on climate change, The Chronicle learned Tuesday.  —  The social media giant in Menlo Park would be the second Silicon Valley giant …

The Emma Watson Naked Photo Countdown Was The Work Of Serial Internet Hoaxers  —  A mysterious countdown website emerged on Monday that hinted at the imminent reveal of naked photographs of the actress Emma Watson, stolen using the same iCloud vulnerability that hackers used to steal photographs …

Exclusive: Lois Lerner breaks silence  —  Accusations pile up  —  Republicans, who earlier this year held her in contempt of Congress, accuse Lerner of using her position to push for audits and denial of tax-exempt status to Karl Rove's Crossroads and other GOP groups.