“Some energy analysts figure the White House’s continuing refusal to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline may become less relevant as oil companies develop other ways to ship their product. But the surge in oil shipments by rail is creating new public health risks while raising the cost of food production.” – WSJ

“Nigel Farage today declared that Ukip is ‘re-writing political history’ after making in-roads into Labour, Tory and Lib Dem heartlands. With half of local election results declared, Ukip has won more than 100 seats, leading Mr Farage to boast: ‘The Ukip fox is in the Westminster hen house.'” – UK Daily Mail

“A former CNN employee claims he was fired because he’s gay and wore bright colors and mariachi outfits to work that were deemed ‘too flamboyant,’ according to a $60 million discrimination lawsuit.” – NY Daily News

“Why do some political scandals stick while others fade? The level of media obsession seems to rise and fall as mysteriously as the stock market. On Benghazi, sell. Hold on the IRS audits. On the Department of Veterans Affairs scandal, buy, buy, buy.” – Michael Gerson/Washington Post

“Two high-profile Democratic Senate candidates have split with the Obama administration and called for Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki’s resignation, just days after President Obama stood by his embattled Cabinet member.” – Fox News

“Mark Levin spent his entire first hour on the fact that Democrats went to the Senate floor today to bully the Washington Redskins to change their name – and we have his first three segments below. Outside of the fact that these egotistical Senators think it’s their business what a private sector football team does, Levin spent much of his time reminding everyone of the blatant racism within the Democrat Party, from past to present, which puts their latest attack on the Redskins in a unique perspective.” – The Right Scoop

“On Wednesday, it finally happened — the pivot to Asia. No, not the United States. It was Russia that turned East.” – Charles Krauthammer/National Review

“Ben Shapiro wrote a column at Truth Revolt today that points out that many Democrats and left-wing commentators actually saw the V.A. as their model of a single-payer, government ran healthcare system that could replace America’s current healthcare model.” – IJ Review

“More and more people in the middle of America — both geographically and culturally — have come to believe either that global warming is manageable or that extraordinary efforts to slow the economy to combat it aren’t worth the cost. But that ‘doesn’t faze the bicoastal urban media elite,’ says Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. These elites, he adds, ‘have become more hysterical in their treatment of the issue, blaming everything from drought to wildfires to hurricanes on climate change.’ It doesn’t matter that there is clear evidence such phenomena are cyclical, and that — for instance — while California is experiencing a severe drought, Florida residents have recently experienced some of the quietest hurricane seasons in decades.” – John Fund/National Review

“On Thursday, in the wake of the scandalous revelations surrounding the VA, the House passed the VA Management Accountability Act. That law would provide Veterans Affairs Department managers with a means of removing VA administrators judged incompetent from their posts. During a debate on that law in the Senate, Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) sparred over whether the law was necessary or if broader reforms were needed.” – Mediaite