To end the anguish, drop the death penalty  —  In Bill and Denise Richard's own words  —  The past two years have been the most trying of our lives.  Our family has grieved, buried our young son, battled injuries, and endured numerous surgeries — all while trying to rebuild lives that will never be the same.

Obama calls Senate inaction on attorney general ‘embarrassing’  —  President Obama on Friday vented his frustration over the delay in confirming his attorney general pick Loretta Lynch, calling the Senate's handling of her nomination “embarrassing.”  —  In his strongest comments to date on the delay …

Rubio-backed insurance market covers 80 people  —  Obamacare, which Rubio wants to repeal, covers 1.6 million in Florida alone.  —  In 2008, while Democrats were declaring that the time was right for national health care reform, Marco Rubio, the speaker of the Florida House, had a ready response …

U.S. Antitrust Lawyers Said to Be Leaning Against Comcast Merger … Staff attorneys at the Justice Department's antitrust division are nearing a recommendation to block Comcast Corp.'s bid to buy Time Warner Cable Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.

The politics of tipping  —  Do you tip at fast food restaurants?  —  It's an ethical dilemma tailor made for HBO's “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and thrust into the 2016 spotlight when Hillary Clinton left an Ohio Chipotle without leaving a tip.  —  When to tip can be a difficult decision …

Huckabee Bashes Republican Plans to Reform Medicare and Social Security  —  As he gears up for another presidential campaign, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is making a big break with the Republican party on the issue of entitlement reform.  Meeting with reporters at a hotel in Washington …

GOP Senator Explains GOP's Biggest Fear If Obamacare Goes Down In Court  —  In a little-noticed radio interview, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) articulated the GOP's biggest fear if the Supreme Court wipes out Obamacare tax credits for millions of Americans who buy insurance from the federal HealthCare.gov exchange.

Scott Brown: Hillary Clinton ‘will make a better president’ than Barack Obama  —  Hillary Clinton “will make a better president than Barack Obama,” former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown says, but Mitt Romney would have made a better president than both of them put together.

Trump Lets His Followers Know 'Hillary Clinton Can't Satisfy Her Husband'  —  Real estate mogul Donald Trump might want to check whatever reflex makes him compulsively retweet his supporters' #Trump2016 messages.  —  The potential presidential hopeful on Thursday shared a fan's tweet that read …

My $29 Food Stamp Challenge—and the Recipes (& Brouhaha) That Ensued  —  Last week, chef (and great man) Mario Batali challenged me to raise awareness and money for the Food Bank For New York City by trying to live on $29 dollars for the week (what low income families on SNAP are trying to survive on).

Brownback signs spectacularly punitive Kansas welfare bill  —  Brownback did it.  —  Not satisfied with cratering his state's economy, cutting education budgets and rescinding long-established job protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender workers, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback …

Why I, Unlike Senator Rubio, Would Not Attend a Gay Wedding  —  On your happy day you should be surrounded by people who can honor your vow and help you keep it.  I can't do that.  —  Senator Marco Rubio, one of our most attractive and charismatic leaders in the rising generation, just announced he's running for president.

Huckabee Says He Formed 2016 Presidential Exploratory Committee  —  Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said he formed a presidential exploratory committee in early April, a step toward running for the Republican nomination in 2016.  —  The disclosure to reporters in Washington on Friday came almost in passing.

Pretty Good Partisan Differentiator  —  So the House went ahead and voted to totally repeal the federal estate tax yesterday.  But something was missing from similar votes back in the day: widespread Democratic defections.  Used to be a standard push-off-the-left Blue Doggy thing to oppose the …

What It Was Like at the First Gay Rights Demonstration Outside White House 50 Years Ago  —  Paul Kuntzler said that when he and nine other people picketed the White House 50 years ago today, protesting the government's treatment of gays and lesbians, he could not imagine how far the gay rights movement would come in five decades.

Steve King: Obama “Importing...Illegal Aliens” To Create “Massive Electorate” For Democrats Like Civil Rights Act  —  “...it creates this massive electorate that will likely vote in large numbers for Barack Obama and his party, just like African Americans have done so after Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act... ”

Democratic Party Chair Says Clinton Will Get Primary Challenger  —  Wasserman Schultz says she's talking to potential Clinton challengers.  —  Hillary Clinton may be the only Democrat officially in the race for the White House, but the head of her party doesn't expect it to stay that way long.

John Kasich preparing to launch national political committee as he ramps up presidential exploration  —  Kasich will return to N.H. and S.C. He's visiting key states while still an undeclared candidate  —  Ohio Gov. John Kasich answers questions during an interview last month in his office.

Over the past week in India, there has been a lot written about Internet.org and net neutrality.  I'd like to share my position on these topics here for everyone to see.  —  First, I'll share a quick story.  Last year I visited Chandauli, a small village in northern India that had just been connected to the internet.

Saddam aide, Iraqi insurgent leader al-Douri reported killed  —  (Reuters) - Ezzat Ibrahim al-Douri, former right-hand man to late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and a leader of Iraq's Sunni insurgency, has been reported killed by Iraqi forces and Shi'ite militias.

Cheap coal is a lie - stand up to the industry's cynical fightback  —  Vested interests are pushing the dirtiest fossil fuel as the energy solution in poor nations.  In fact, the argument for investing in solar is overwhelming  —  It is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid the reality …

Army morale low despite 6-year, $287M optimism program  —  More than half of some 770,000 soldiers are pessimistic about their future in the military and nearly as many are unhappy in their jobs, despite a six-year, $287 million campaign to make troops more optimistic and resilient, findings obtained by USA TODAY show.

Japan's Maglev Train Hits World Record 590 Kilometers Per Hour  —  Central Japan Railway Co. said its magnetic levitation bullet train hit 590 kilometers per hour (366 miles per hour) on Thursday and broke the previous speed record set 12 years ago by the company.

Town shocked by exorcism, bartered sex for services case  —  According to documents released by the Iowa Board of Chiropractic on Wednesday, the license of a chiropractor has been suspended for “engaging in sexual contact with several patients.”  —  Watch video

Jewish newspaper switching to tabloid format after 118 years  —  Starting Friday, The Jewish Daily Foward, one of the country's leading Jewish publications, will move to a tabloid format, ending its 118-year run as a broadsheet.  —  To help promote the new format, Acting Publisher Barry S. Surman …