Authorities Have Identified Person of Interest in Times Square Bomb Attempt  —  Investigation Pointing to Coordinated Effort, Foreign Links in Foiled Times Square Attack  —  Federal authorities are closing in on the man they say is a person of interest in the Times Square car bomb attempt this weekend …

Perry: Oil spill may be ‘act of God’  —  Texas Gov. Rick Perry Monday morning offered a stern warning against halting oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of a massive oil leak, and he raised the question of whether the explosion was an “act of God.”

Sen. Mike Bennett Caught Looking at Porn on Senate Floor … No one will argue that sitting on the Senate floor during session can get a little boring, but looking at porn is probably not the best way to pass the time.  —  On Thursday morning, Sunshine State News captured exclusive video …

Greenspan Wanted Housing-Bubble Dissent Kept Secret  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  As top Federal Reserve officials debated whether there was a housing bubble and what to do about it, then-Chairman Alan Greenspan argued that the dissent should be kept secret so that the Fed wouldn't lose control …

Poll: Public's View of the Economy is Improving  —  CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto.  —  Americans are more optimistic about the future of the economy than they were last month, according to a new CBS News/ New York Times poll.

Secret Erik Prince/Blackwater Tape Exposed  —  The reclusive Blackwater founder tries to ban journalists and recorders from his speeches in front of friendly audiences.  This time he failed.  —  [Note: This post, written for TheNation.com, will be posted on The Nation magazine's homepage soon as part of the launch of a new blog.

With dissents, SCOTUS closes door  —  With two dissents, the U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that, for security reasons, the public will no longer be able enter the court through the majestic doors at the top of the steps beneath the inscription “Equal Justice Under Law.”

Top of the ballot: Expectations rise for GOP in specials; Dobson switches endorsement in Kentucky  —  TOP OF THE BALLOT: Expectations creep up on Republicans in Hawaii and Pennsylvania; Dobson switches endorsement in Kentucky; and a DSCC recruit hopes to force runoff in North Carolina.

Pelosi: Bush Admin Barred Officials From Briefing Congress On Impending Financial Crisis in Fall 2008  —  Nearly two years after the Wall Street meltdown drove the U.S. economy to the brink of collapse, and forced the U.S. government to prop up major financial institutions with hundreds …

MSNBC boss stands ready in ideological battle with Fox News  —  Phil Griffin says he learned a valuable lesson from Roger Ailes, creator of Fox News Channel: Viewers will stand behind a news outlet that stands for something  —  MSNBC boss Phil Griffin looks at what Roger Ailes created at Fox News Channel with no small amount of awe.

Florida GOP chief puts Crist portrait on eBay  —  John Thrasher, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF), is helping recoup money the party gave to Gov. Charlie Crist in an interesting way.  —  Thrasher put a privately commissioned oil painting of Crist, who backed …

Racist Harvard Law Email: The Cat Fight That Turned Into a National Scandal  —  Last week, we introduced you to Stephanie Grace, the Harvard Law student who wrote an email suggesting blacks were inherently dumber than whites.  New details have emerged: a feud over a boy, a backstabbing friend, and a campaign of sabotage.

Monday Meme  —  A friend suggested this exercise: go to your Amazon orders page, and see what the very first thing you ordered from Amazon was.  —  Memoirs of the turn of the previous century are filled with the family's first automobile, its first water closet and electric lights.

China May ‘Crash’ in Next 9 to 12 Months, Faber Says  —  Investor Marc Faber said China's economy will slow and possibly “crash” within a year as declines in stock and commodity prices signal the nation's property bubble is set to burst.  —  The Shanghai Composite Index has failed to regain …

Mainstream Journalist Mentions Vera Baker!  —  No one's going to ignore the National Enquirer's reporting on political sex scandals.  It is at the height of its prestige now, having been talked about as a serious Pulitzer Prize contender for its coverage of the John Edwards scandal.  —  The tabloid has cred.

The Left Loses Its Way by Abandoning ‘Third Way’  —  Left parties are in trouble in the Anglosphere.  Here in America, Democrats are doing worse in the polls than at any time in the last 50 years.  In Britain, the Labor Party is on the brink of finishing third, behind both Conservatives …

Drone Jokes.  —  “The Jonas Brothers are here; they're out there somewhere.  Sasha and Malia are huge fans.  But boys, don't get any ideas.  I have two words for you, ‘predator drones.’ You will never see it coming.”  —  The Obama administration has spent a great deal of time on outreach …

DNC poll: Only Case can win in Hawaii  —  The White House and top Democratic officials are circulating a new, private poll to suggest that only one of two Democrats splitting votes in a tightly contested Hawaii special election has a chance of winning the race.

Get Ready for a Nuclear Iran  —  Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey and others will surely follow suit.  —  Negotiations grind on toward a fourth U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution against Iran's nuclear weapons program, even as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrives in New York to address …

Conservative Latinos Rethink Party Ties  —  Adam Bustos, a third-generation Mexican-American, has voted Republican since Ronald Reagan ran for president.  But he has been reconsidering his party affiliation since Arizona State Gov. Jan Brewer signed the nation's toughest immigration law last month.

Lowden's Campaign Chief: Everyone Has Access To Health Care — At Emergency Room  —  Okay, chickens-for-checkups has taken another new turn: Sue Lowden's campaign manager has now said that all Americans already have access to health care — because if you get shot in the chest, you can simply head over to the emergency room.

THE INFLUENCER  —  An entertainment mogul sets his sights on foreign policy.  —  One afternoon in late October, Haim Saban, seated in his wood-panelled library, contemplated the results of a fourteen-month renovation of his estate.  It consists of a main house and two smaller buildings …