Leonard Nimoy, Spock of ‘Star Trek,’ Dies at 83  —  Leonard Nimoy, the sonorous, gaunt-faced actor who won a worshipful global following as Mr. Spock, the resolutely logical human-alien first officer of the Starship Enterprise in the television and movie juggernaut “Star Trek,” …

STUNNER: House GOP Votes Down Own Bill To Avert Shutdown  —  WASHINGTON — In a huge embarrassment for Republican leaders, the House voted down their bill Friday to avert a Homeland Security shutdown hours before the midnight deadline.  —  The House GOP plan was to pass a three-week stopgap bill …

Scott Walker Wants Colleges to Stop Reporting Sexual Assaults  —  Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's proposed budget—which would cut $300 million dollars out of the state's beloved public university system—has a non-fiscal bombshell tucked in between its insane pages.

Rubio: I've learned lesson on immigration  —  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that he's learned he was wrong on his approach to immigration reform.  —  Rubio, a onetime Tea Party favorite whose support for a comprehensive immigration reform package hurt …

Jeb Bush: 'I'm not backing down' from immigration stance  —  PALM BEACH, Fla. — In perhaps his most campaign-style speech so far, not-yet-official GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush vowed Thursday not to alter his views on immigration despite intense opposition among some parts of the Republican base.

GOP scrambles to keep Obamacare subsidies flowing in case of Supreme Court victory  —  What happens if Republicans win the Supreme Court case against Obamacare?  They might end up like the dog that caught the car.  —  Next Wednesday the court will hear oral arguments in King v. Burwell …

The Science of Why No One Agrees on the Color of This Dress  —  The original image is in the middle.  At left, white-balanced as if the dress is white-gold.  At right, white-balanced to blue-black. swiked  —  Not since Monica Lewinsky was a White House intern has one blue dress been the source of so much consternation.

CPAC Hails ‘President Paul’  —  CPAC activists waited an hour-and-a-half for Senator Rand Paul after congressional votes delayed his speech, and the pent-up energy made for a rowdy welcome.  —  “President Paul!  President Paul!  President Paul!” the attendees chanted in the middle …

In Early Polling, Walker Stands Apart  —  Not since George W. Bush in 2000 has a GOP presidential candidate drawn support across so many divides.  —  Can Scott Walker keep his balance?  —  That's quickly become one of the most consequential early questions as the 2016 Republican presidential race begins …

American atheist blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh  —  Protests in Dhaka after Avijit Roy, whose blog championed liberal secular writing in the Muslim-majority nation, was attacked along with his wife  —  A prominent American blogger of Bangladeshi origin has been hacked to death …

Uninsured Ex-Sheriff Who Fought O-care Struggles To Pay Medical Bills  —  Former Arizona county sheriff Richard Mack, a fierce opponent of Obamacare and a leader in the “constitutional sheriff” movement, is struggling to pay his medical bills after he and his wife each faced serious illnesses.

Russia opposition politician Boris Nemtsov shot dead  —  A leading Russian opposition politician, former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, has been shot dead in Moscow, Russian officials say.  —  An unidentified attacker in a car shot Mr Nemtsov four times in the back as he crossed a bridge in view of the Kremlin, police say.