U.S. Orders Alabama To License Gay Unions  —  MOBILE, Ala. — A federal judge here ruled on Thursday that the local probate judge cannot refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, potentially adding some clarity to a judicial quarrel that has roiled Alabama for most of a week.

David Carr, Media Equation Columnist for The Times, Is Dead at 58  —  David Carr, who wrote about media as it intersects with business, culture and government in his Media Equation column for The New York Times, died at the office on Thursday.  He was 58.  —  For the past 25 years, Mr. Carr wrote about media.

Rush Limbaugh: Scott Walker should announce he quit college to avoid rape accusations  —  DON'T MISS STORIES.  FOLLOW RAW STORY!  —  Rush Limbaugh suggested that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announce that he quit college to avoid being accused of rape.  —  The likely 2016 Republican …

Obama Secretly Partied With Bill Ayers Last Summer  —  On Aug. 30, 2014, MSNBC anchor Alex Wagner and former White House chef Sam Kass got married at a private wedding north of New York City.  It was widely reported at the time that President Obama, a longtime friend of the groom, attended the ceremony with his family.

Biden: 2016 is battle for third Obama term  —  The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee should embrace the notion of a third term of the Obama presidency, Vice President Biden said Thursday, during a speech at Drake University in Iowa.  —  “I call it sticking with what works,” Biden declared.

House conservatives push McConnell to gut filibuster  —  A growing number of House GOP conservatives are pressuring Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday to invoke the “nuclear option” and change the chamber's rules to pass a bill defunding President Obama's executive actions on immigration.

A GOP one-party state?  —  If the Republican nominee for president is elected in 2016 — even by one vote — America will become an effective one-party state with the GOP controlling the presidency, the House, the Senate and the Supreme Court.  —  I warn my fellow liberals who casually discuss …

“Sarah Palin with a Harvard degree”: Why new senator Tom Cotton is so frightening … Newly elected Tom Cotton of Arkansas is one of the youngest members of the Senate, only 37 years old, a graduate of Harvard and Harvard Law and a veteran of both Afghanistan and Iraq.

The war on Jeb Bush  —  His fast start has reordered the Republican 2016 race, and put a bull's-eye on his back.  —  The war on Jeb Bush is on.  —  Rand Paul is attacking him as a hypocrite on marijuana who's indistinguishable from Hillary Clinton.  Ted Cruz is questioning whether Bush's stands …

Which image of Obama mugging for BuzzFeed's cameras diminishes the presidency the most, ranked  —  The #Millennial-friendly website BuzzFeed has taken over for Zach Galifianakis as the White House's preferred video venue for encouraging young people to sign up for health insurance.

League Of The South Celebrates Assassination Of Abraham Lincoln  —  As we reported earlier today, Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has close personal and financial ties with Michael Peroutka, the neo-Confederate activist and theocrat who has helped develop the view …

Federal charges for suspect in Ferguson Market arson  —  FERGUSON, MO - Federal prosecutors are bringing charges in one of the fires in riots that destroyed businesses after the Michael Brown grand jury decision.  —  A federal grand jury indicted Antonio Whiteside, 26 …

Photos Show Russian Military in Ukraine Arming Separatists  —  UPDATE 3:11 P.M.: Following publication of this story, serious questions have been raised about the authenticity of some of the photographs provided by Sen. Jim Inhofe (R., Okla.).  Several images of the Russian convoys appear …

The Destroyer Goeth  —  I met Walter Cronkite once.  He was a jerk.  —  The occasion was the 100th anniversary of my college newspaper, the Daily Texan, where Cronkite had worked as a young man before dropping out of the University of Texas.  It was 1999, and the possibility of …

Bill would allow concealed weapons across state lines  —  Gun owners would be allowed to carry concealed weapons around the country under new legislation introduced in the Senate.  —  The Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would allow gun owners who have a concealed carry permit …

How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco's Life  —  Credit: Photo illustration by Andrew B. Myers.  Prop stylist: Sonia Rentsch.  —  As she made the long journey from New York to South Africa, to visit family during the holidays in 2013, Justine Sacco, 30 years old and the senior director …

Islamic State fighters seize western Iraqi town: officials  —  (Reuters) - Islamic State insurgents took control on Thursday of most of the western Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi, threatening an air base where U.S. Marines are training Iraqi troops, officials said.

Campaign Manager Pleads Guilty to Coordinated Campaign Contributions and False Statements  —  First Criminal Prosecution in the United States For  —  Campaign Finance Coordination between Political Committees  —  A campaign finance manager and political consultant pleaded guilty today …

Hundreds of South Carolina Inmates Sent to Solitary Confinement Over Facebook  —  In the South Carolina prison system, accessing Facebook is an offense on par with murder, rape, rioting, escape and hostage-taking.  —  Back in 2012, the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) made …