Jeb Bush shaped by troubled Phillips Academy years  —  Possible presidential candidate had tumultuous four years at Andover school

A Strained Alliance: Obama-Netanyahu Rift Grew Over Years  —  WASHINGTON — For six years, the pattern has been the same.  A dispute between American and Israeli leaders spills out into the open.  Analysts declare the relationship in crisis.  Then the two sides try to tamp down emotions …

Mitt Romney will not run for president in 2016  —  WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney told his supporters Friday that he will not run for president a third time in 2016, abruptly ending a three-week flirtation that illuminated a conflict between his White House dreams and the prospect of a highly taxing campaign …

The Upper Middle Class Is Ruining America  —  And I want it to stop.  —  I first encountered the upper middle class when I attended a big magnet high school in Manhattan that attracted a decent number of brainy, better-off kids whose parents preferred not to pay private-school tuition.

Shoveling Science  —  Were you hit this week by all the climate change?  We here in the Baltimore/Washington area received just a light dusting, but Boston was covered in it.  Actually, thanks to the mainstream media, the whole nation was covered in climate change.

Michael Moore: Clint Eastwood Once Threatened to Kill Me  —  Does this explain why Michael Moore has been so critical of American Sniper?  In a long Facebook post Thursday night, the filmmaker recounted the time 10 years ago this month that Clint Eastwood allegedly threatened to kill him.

Time Magazine's Jeffrey Kluger writes what might possibly be the stupidest article about climate ever - climate change causes volcanoes  —  The stupid, it burns like a magnesium flare.  —  Excerpt from the article: … Riiight.  —  Here's the money quote:

George RR Martin's The Winds of Winter: no plans for publication in 2015  —  Fans face a long wait for the sixth novel in the bestselling A Song of Ice and Fire series, but a new edition of three previously anthologised novellas set in the Game of Thrones world is due in October

State Dept Won't Call Taliban Murder of American Contractors ‘Terrorism’  —  In the latest round of verbal gymnastics over the Taliban, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki refused to categorize the murder of American civilians at Kabul International Airport an act of “terrorism.”

'Kill our pilot and we'll execute ALL your prisoners': Jordan ‘says it will hang its ISIS captives’ if airman hostage is dead  —  Jordan has threatened to fast-track the execution of a would-be suicide bomber the Islamic State is trying to free if the terror group kills its captured pilot, it was reported today.

The Republican Congress Meets Reality  —  Republicans promised to do a couple of things right away if given control of Congress.  One was to pass a bill to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline.  Another was to open up the Senate processes that they charged the Democrats had bottlenecked during their time in the majority.