Reminder: Roman Polanski raped a child  —  Roman Polanski raped a child.  Let's just start right there, because that's the detail that tends to get neglected when we start discussing whether it was fair for the bail-jumping director to be arrested at age 76, after 32 years in “exile” …

Andy Williams accuses Barack Obama of following Marxist theory  —  Andy Williams, the veteran pop singer, has accused Barack Obama of “following Marxist theory” and “wanting the country to fail”.  —  Williams, a lifelong Republican whose hits include Moon River and Music To Watch Girls By …

Right-Wing Conference Tells Activists To Get Their Guns Ready For ‘Bloody Battle’ With Obama The Nazi  —  At the How To Take Back America Conference last weekend, conservative speaker Kitty Werthmann led a workshop called “How to recognize living under Nazis & Communists.”

Palin finishes memoir, ‘Going Rogue,’ out Nov. 17  —  NEW YORK — Sarah Palin (PAY'-lin) has finished her memoir just four months after the book deal was announced.  Her publisher says the release date has been moved up from the spring to Nov. 17.  —  Harper publisher Jonathan Burnham …

Secret Service probing Facebook poll on Obama  —  WASHINGTON—The U.S. Secret Service is investigating an online survey that asked whether people thought President Barack Obama should be assassinated, officials said Monday.  —  The poll, posted Saturday on Facebook, was taken off …

Iran smolders, Afghanistan burns, and Obama heads to...Denmark  —  With growing pressure for decisions on life-or-death issues in Afghanistan and Iran, this morning the White House announced that President Obama will soon travel to...Copenhagen.  Obama will be in Denmark for just a few hours …

Understanding the Strategy  —  Last week, I had an exchange with Armando about the Obama administration's strategy for passing health care reform.  I want to follow up on that a bit.  As references, I want you to take a look at Joan McCarter's recent piece at Daily Kos and David Kuhn's piece at Real Clear Politics.

CNN planning life after Larry  —  Larry King's contract with CNN is set to expire in 18 months — and the cable network's chiefs are busy lining up his successor in case he retires.  —  King, 75, has been interviewing celebrities since 1985.  Sources say CNN's first choice to succeed him would be

Jet halted at LAX; two men are removed by police [Updated]  —  A plane was stopped from taking off from Los Angeles International Airport, and two men on board were taken into custody, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.  —  LAPD Lt. John Romero said the men …

Stop Allowing The Left To Set The Rules  —  I am so sick of the Left being allowed to make the rules.  Imagine the absurdity of a competition in which one side is allowed to set the rules against their opponent.  The Left tells us what is racist.  The Left tells us what we can and cannot say.

People Can Opt Out of Listing STDs, Abortions in Gov't-Mandated Electronic Health Records, Patrick Kennedy Says  —  (CNSNews.com) - Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D.-R.I.) says people will be able to stop doctors from including records of sexually transmitted diseases and abortions in the new national system …

An Individual Mandate for Health Insurance Would Benefit All  —  Nobody should fear bankruptcy due to illness or injury  —  William H. Frist, a Tennessee Republican, is a heart surgeon and the former U.S. Senate majority leader.  —  I believe in limited government and individual responsibility …

Iraq, the unraveling (XXIV): U.S. embassy vs. U.S. military, again  —  American insiders in Baghdad say the relationship between the top U.S. commander there, Gen. Raymond Odierno, and the top civilian official there, Amb.  Christopher Hill, is deteriorating rapidly.

SAUDIS WILL LET ISRAEL BOMB IRAN NUCLEAR SITE  —  INTELLIGENCE chief Sir John Scarlett has been told that Saudi Arabia is ready to allow Israel to bomb Iran's new nuclear site.  —  The head of MI6 discussed the issue in London with Mossad chief Meir Dagan and Saudi officials …

A Nuclear Debate Brews: Is Iran Designing Warheads?  —  WASHINGTON — When President Obama stood last week with the leaders of Britain and France to denounce Iran's construction of a secret nuclear plant, the Western powers all appeared to be on the same page.

Boxer, Kerry Set to Introduce Climate Bill in Senate  —  Ending some nine months of closed-door deliberations, Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) will release global warming legislation Wednesday that they hope will be the vehicle for broader Senate negotiations and an eventual conference with the House.

24 Blue Dogs Have Said They Support a Public Option  —  The fact that a Blue Dog has supported a public option in the past does not mean that they will support one now — their principles tend to be lobbyist-flexible.  But Nate Silver's number crunching indicates that most of those who have done …

In defence of financial innovation  —  Many appear to think that the increasing complexity of financial products is the source of the world financial crisis.  In response to it, many argue that regulators should actively discourage complexity.  —  The June 2009 US Treasury white paper seemed to say this.

A new push to define ‘person,’ and to outlaw abortion in the process  —  Some abortion foes think the rationale for Roe vs. Wade is vulnerable.  They're trying to amend state constitutions — including California's — to define personhood from conception.  —  It is one of the enduring questions …