Thom Tillis says where he went to college shouldn't matter  —  A day after questions surfaced about his alma mater, U.S. Senate candidate Thom Tillis said where he went to college shouldn't matter and dismissed suggestions he misled voters.  —  In an interview Friday, the House speaker acknowledged …

Westboro Baptist Church protests Lorde concert; first protest since Phelps' passing  —  Brendaliss Gonzalez  —  For the first time since their pastor's passing, the controversial Westboro Baptist Church held a protest outside of the Lorde concert on Friday night.  —  KSHB

Black Pathology And The Closing Of The Progressive Mind  —  Among opinion writers, Jonathan Chait is outranked in my esteem only by Hendrik Hertzberg.  This lovely take-down of Robert Johnson is a classic of the genre, one I studied incessantly when I was sharpening my own sword.  The sharpening never ends.

The Washington Post Responds To Me, and I Reply to the Post  —  On Thursday, the Washington Post published an article by Steven Mufson and Juliet Eilperin titled “The biggest lease holder in Canada's oil sands isn't Exxon Mobil or Chevron.  It's the Koch brothers.”  The article's first paragraph included this claim:

‘LIBERTY TAX’: WHITE HOUSE, MEDIA ATTACK AFTER DRUDGE PAYS OBAMACARE OPT-OUT PENALTY  —  A White House aide set off a stampede of liberal media criticism for Internet news pioneer Matt Drudge over Obamacare - but his critics don't seem to understand how small businesses pay taxes.

Bill Maher targets Michael Grimm, Blake Farenthold  —  Liberal comic Bill Maher revealed Friday that the two congressman first nominated “by popular demand” for his “Flip a District” campaign are Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) and Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas).

The boom in smuggling to avoid cigarette taxes  —  Shares -  —  More than half of the cigarettes sold in New York State are smuggled in from other places to avoid the Empire State's taxes on smokes, which have soared nearly 200 percent since 2006, according to a report issued by the conservative Tax Foundation.

Ted Nugent's appearance at upcoming Longview festival canceled by city  —  An East Texas city had to pay thousands to a controversial performer, before he even planned on performing at a July Fourth concert.  —  The City of Longview is preparing to hold its second annual Fourth of July Festival.

Murray L. Weidenbaum, Reagan Economist, Dies at 87  —  Murray L. Weidenbaum, who as President Ronald Reagan's first chief economic adviser elevated government regulation of business to the forefront of public policy debate, but resigned unhappy about the administration's budget-making, died on Thursday in St. Louis.

Revealed: the final 54 minutes of communication from MH370  —  The entire 54 minutes of cockpit communication aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight can be revealed, from its taxi on the runway to its final message at 1.07am of ‘all right, good night’  —  The Telegraph has obtained …

Missing jet WAS carrying highly flammable lithium batteries: CEO of Malaysian Airlines finally admits to dangerous cargo four days after DENYING it  —  Malaysian Airlines today confirmed that flight MH370 had been carrying highly flammable lithium-ion batteries in its cargo hold …

Creationists demand equal airtime on Neil deGrasse Tyson's ‘Cosmos’ to provide ‘balance’  —  Creationists held a pity party for themselves Thursday because “Cosmos” isn't being fair and balanced to their beliefs.  —  “Creationists aren't even on the radar screen for them …