Obama orders review of crashers  —  President Obama has ordered a full review into how a Virginia couple managed to make their way into the White House for last week's state dinner without an invitation, even getting so far as to meet the president in the official receiving line, according to a White House official.

Rashomon in the desert  —  Dubai or not Dubai — that is the question.  Dubai's sorta-kinda default (a state-owned enterprise seeking a rescheduling of its debts) is, by itself, not that big of a deal.  But who else looks like Dubai?  What kind of omen is this for the next stage in the financial crisis?

Justice Department Says Acorn Can Be Paid for Pre-Ban Contracts  —  WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has concluded that the Obama administration can lawfully pay the community group Acorn for services provided under contracts signed before Congress banned the government from providing money to the group.

­An open letter to graduate students and young scientists in fields related to climate research from Dr. Judith Curry regarding hacked CRU emails  —  I have known Dr. Judith Curry, Chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, for many years.

Top 20 Unfortunate Lessons Girls Learn From ‘Twilight’  —  From a male point of view, the only redeeming feature of the Twilight books and movies is the ammunition they provide against female claims of innate moral superiority over men.  —  Whenever a woman criticizes a man's lust, aggression …

Kill the Bills.  Do Health Reform Right.  —  The United States has the best health care in the world — but because of its inefficiencies, also the most expensive.  The fundamental problem with the 2,074-page Senate health-care bill (as with its 2,014-page House counterpart) …

Tiger Woods taken to hospital in ‘serious’ condition after car accident  —  Professional golfer Tiger Woods was seriously injured in a car accident outside his Isleworth home early this morning.  —  View Tiger Woods involved in car accident in a larger map (ORLANDO SENTINEL / November 27, 2009)

Next stop for Nader: US Senate from Connecticut?  —  WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — Ralph Nader says he wants to gauge the level of grass-roots support before deciding whether to make a bid to represent Connecticut in the Senate.  —  The 75-year-old consumer advocate and Connecticut native said Friday that he is …

Canadian Comedian Fails Miserably In Trying To Embarrass Sarah Palin  —  Hey did you hear about Sarah Palin's book tour?  Turns out that the former VP candidate and Alaskan Governor is on some sort of press tour and is trying to get in the news.  During a book signing event in Columbus …

New group tries to convince Cheney to run in 2012  —  Washington (CNN) - A new group wants former Vice President Dick Cheney back in the White House.  —  The organization - “Draft Dick Cheney 2012” - launched on Friday, and unveiled their new Web site.  Their aim: To convince …

Prosecuting American ‘War Crimes’  —  The International Criminal Court claims jurisdiction over U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  The Hague  —  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed “great regret” in August that the U.S. is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Sen. Jeff Sessions challenges double standard on judicial filibuster  —  Legal scholars have long debated whether the filibuster may be used to keep judicial nominees off the bench.  For practical purposes, that question was answered on May 23, 2005.  That night, while forging a settlement …

U.S. journalist grilled at Canada border crossing  —  Officials demanded to know what she would say publicly about 2010 Olympics  —  U.S. journalist Amy Goodman said she was stopped at a Canadian border crossing south of Vancouver on Wednesday and questioned for 90 minutes by authorities concerned …

Weekly Tracking Poll: New Feature Paints Ugly 2010 Picture  —  Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 11/22/2009-11/25/2009.  All adults.  MoE 2% (Last weeks results in parentheses):  —  FAVORABLEUNFAVORABLENET CHANGE  —  PRESIDENT OBAMA  —  53 (55)  —  40 (39)  —3  —  PELOSI:  —  41 (40)

Polanski's Release From Prison  —  The decision to free Roman Polanski is a wise decision.  It honors the people who took it.  It shows that the arguments developed by the movie director's partisans — including those published on the French review's website of La Règle du Jeu — have finally been fruitful.

Secrecy in science is a corrosive force  —  With no disrespect to sausages and laws, Bismarck's most famous aphorism clearly requires updating.  “Scientific research” is bidding furiously to make the global shortlist of things one should not see being made.  —  Understandably so.