Court: No review of Obama's eligibility to serve  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth.

Tribune Co. files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection  —  The Chicago-based company, which owns the L.A. Times and KTLA Channel 5, will stop making interest payments on $12 billion in debt as it attempts to restructure its loans, chairman Sam Zell says.  —  The company that owns the Los Angeles Times …

RICE TO HOST HRC TONIGHT  —  From NBC's Libby Leist  —  Two of the most powerful women in the world will meet for dinner tonight when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hosts Hillary Clinton for dinner at Rice's Watergate apartment, State Department transition sources tell NBC News.

Confessions throw Gitmo 9/11 trials into confusion  —  GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said Monday he will confess to masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks, throwing his death-penalty trial into disarray and shocking victims' relatives who watched from behind a glass partition.

Thain Spars With Board Over Bonus at Merrill  —  Merrill Lynch & Co. chief John Thain has suggested to directors that he get a 2008 bonus of as much as $10 million, but the battered securities firm's compensation committee is resisting his request, according to people familiar with the situation.

In Defense Of Sarah Palin  —  Will, a loyal Dish reader, writes: … I agree.  While signing off, Andrew mentioned the months long argument he and I have had with regard to Sarah Palin's fifth child.  I am the only other person who has read all the obstetrician interviews …

Stoking Fear Everywhere You Look  —  With unemployment figures beginning to resemble a mushroom cloud and the Fed running out of card tricks, I told a friend we were going to spend the weekend at my house making hard choices — scrutinizing every expense, eliminating spending where we could and downsizing at every turn.

Sen. Weingarten?!  (Updated)  —  While media attention has been focused since last week on speculation that Caroline Kennedy is interested in replacing Hillary Clinton in the US Senate, a new name that is sure to raise some eyebrows popped up today: Teachers union honcho Randi Weingarten.

Senator Nanny?  Fran Wants It!  —  Appoint her, or she'll run.  —  Fran Drescher wants to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate.  She says she's qualified.  “I've just been given the appointment of U.S. diplomat,” she said at a party for Le Cirque: A Table in Heaven at that restaurant on December 3.

Small Isn't Beautiful  —  President-elect Barack Obama and a Democratic Congress are about to serve up a supersized helping of big-government liberalism.  Conservatives will be inclined to oppose much of what Obama and his party cook up.  And, I believe, rightly so.

Wright: Obama made ‘bad’ choice to distance self, but it's ok  —  President-elect Barack Obama made a “bad decision” by distancing himself from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his church, Wright said Sunday — but that's OK.  —  “He's still my child,” Wright said in a sermon in which he expressed pride …

Liberals voice concerns about Obama  —  Liberals are growing increasingly nervous - and some just flat-out angry - that President-elect Barack Obama seems to be stiffing them on Cabinet jobs and policy choices.  —  Obama has reversed pledges to immediately repeal tax cuts for the wealthy and take on Big Oil.

Our Mutual Joy  —  Opponents of gay marriage often cite Scripture.  But what the Bible teaches about love argues for the other side.  —  From the magazine issue dated Dec 15, 2008  —  Let's try for a minute to take the religious conservatives at their word and define marriage as the Bible does.

Frank predicts second auto bailout in March  —  Rep. Barney Frank said Monday that the incoming Obama administration will likely explore a second, long-term bailout of automakers next March while saying an agreement on the first is nearly complete.  —  The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee …

Obama: Don't stock up on guns  —  As gun sales shoot up around the country, President-elect Barack Obama said Sunday that gun-owning Americans do not need to rush out and stock up before he is sworn in next month.  —  “I believe in common-sense gun safety laws, and I believe in the second amendment,” Obama said at a news conference.

Out of the Cabinet — Where Do They Land?  —  What's next for (clockwise from top) Chuck Hagel, Kathleen Sebelius, Tim Kaine and John Kerry now that a spot in the Obama Cabinet seems unlikely?  —  The clamor among Democratic office-holders to be a part of President-elect Barack Obama's Administration …

EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson: There's ‘not a clean-cut division’ between religion and science.  —  EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson: There's ‘not a clean-cut division’ between religion and science.»  —  A Philadelphia Inquirer profile of EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson …

NEW FACES  —  I talked to a reporter today who's writing about the turnover on the Sunday shows, particularly David Gregory getting the nod to take over for the late Tim Russert as the host of Meet the Press and John King taking over the CNN show.  One thing that struck me though …

The Malcolm Gladwell Backlash  —  I've really been taken aback by a lot of the hostile response to Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers that I've read.  This isn't a book without flaws.  But the flaws in the book are flaws that have long been present in Gladwell's writing.

Paul Volcker is back, and he warns of tough times ahead  —  Volcker has been chosen by President-elect Barack Obama as a special economic advisor.  His ‘no pain, no gain’ fiscal strategy worked in the '80s and there's no sign he's softened that philosophy.  —  A generation ago …