Barack Obama furious at General Stanley McChrystal speech on Afghanistan  —  The relationship between President Barack Obama and the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan has been put under severe strain by Gen Stanley McChrystal's comments on strategy for the war.

Associate Producer of Polanski Documentary Spams This Blog With Multiple Anonymous Comments Attacking Me?  —  That's certainly what the evidence suggests to me.  Looks like I touched a nerve, huh?  —  Tonight the following comment started to appear on every single post I have written about Roman Polanski.

National Security Adviser: Obama won't lift gay ban until Iraq and Afghan wars finished - and even then, if there are more wars...  Apparently, General Jones would have us believe that President Obama wasn't aware that we were fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan when he promised to lift …

Obama's Meeting With the Dalai Lama Is Delayed  —  In an attempt to gain favor with China, the United States pressured Tibetan representatives to postpone a meeting between the Dalai Lama and President Obama until after Obama's summit with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, scheduled for next month …

Waitrose dumps Fox after Obama attack  —  His last-minute Olympic sprint to Chicago may have come to nothing, the Afghan quagmire may be bubbling away and Sarah Palin may be topping the bestseller list, but Barack Obama can at least take comfort from the fact that Britain's most upmarket supermarket chain is on his side.

Would Jesus Like Today's GOP?  —  William K. Wolfrum wrote a piece last year that was picked up just now by TPM, called “Jesus Christ Quite Christianity After Viewing Republican Platform.”  When I Tweeted this earlier, I received nasty comments from some conservatives.

The Politics of Spite  —  There was what President Obama likes to call a teachable moment last week, when the International Olympic Committee rejected Chicago's bid to be host of the 2016 Summer Games.  —  “Cheers erupted” at the headquarters of the conservative Weekly Standard …

Roubini Says Stocks Have Risen ‘Too Soon, Too Fast’  —  Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) — New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini, who predicted the financial crisis, said stock and commodity markets may drop in coming months as the gradual pace of the economic recovery disappoints investors.

GOP leaders to Steele: Back off  —  GOP leaders, in a private meeting last month, delivered a blunt and at times heated message to RNC Chairman Michael Steele: quit meddling in policy.  —  The plea was made during what was supposed to be a routine discussion about polling matters …

Nobody is applauding as Hollywood premieres Polanski defense  —  Roman Polanski anally raped a 13-year old girl.  After plying her with Quaaludes and champagne wasn't enough to make her succumb to his charms, he ignored her protests and did what he wanted.  —  This was not a consensual affair, or a misunderstood romance.

The case against Charlie Rangel  —  Forty years of tax evasion, misdeeds and contempt  —  On April 9, 1965, a 34-year-old lawyer named Charles Rangel took out a low-interest mortgage to renovate his childhood home — a row house on West 132nd Street that he had just inherited from his grandfather.

Inequality as Usual  —  Not long ago, liberals were insisting that income inequality was America's most serious economic problem.  —  Now there are more immediate crises: A 9.8 percent unemployment rate, a yawning budget deficit.  But the inequality issue hasn't gone away.

CBS Removes David Letterman's Mea Culpa From YouTube  —  Keeping quiet about an apparent extortion attempt against David Letterman and “The Late Show,” CBS worked over the weekend to stamp out unauthorized copies of the late-night host's televised explanation.

ElBaradei says nuclear Israel number one threat to Mideast: report  —  Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei said Sunday that “Israel is number one threat to Middle East” with its nuclear arms, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Eight US soldiers killed in Taliban raid  —  Eight American soldiers and two Afghan troops have been killed in the deadliest attack on coalition troops for more than a year, officials say.  —  The battle happened in Nuristan province in the remote east of the country when military outposts were attacked, a Nato statement said.