Basic Religion Test Stumps Many Americans  —  Americans are by all measures a deeply religious people, but they are also deeply ignorant about religion.  —  Researchers from the independent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life phoned more than 3,400 Americans and asked them 32 questions about the Bible …

Rahm Emanuel Likely to Leave White House This Week  —  Final Decision Not Yet Made, White House Chief of Staff All but Certain to Explore Campaign for Mayor of Chicago  —  Although no final decision has been made because of family considerations, ABC News has learned that White House officials …

Obama in Command: The Rolling Stone Interview  —  In an Oval Office interview, the president discusses the Tea Party, the war, the economy and what's at stake this November  —  The following is an article from the October 15, 2010 issue of Rolling Stone.  —  We arrived at the southwest gate …

Angry Voters Push McMahon Closer In Senate Race, Quinnipiac University Connecticut Poll Finds; But Most Voters Say Her Ads Are Annoying  —  Propelled by Connecticut likely voters who say they are “angry” with government, former wrestling executive Linda McMahon, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate …

Rep. Grayson Lowers the Bar  —  The Florida Democrat manipulates video to make his opponent seem to urge wives to ‘submit’ to husbands.  He didn't.  —  We thought Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson of Florida reached a low point when he falsely accused his opponent of being a draft dodger during the Vietnam War …

DeMint vows roadblock  —  South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint warned Monday evening that he would block all legislation that has not been cleared by his office in the final days of the pre-election session.  —  Bret Bernhardt, DeMint's chief of staff, said in an e-mail to GOP aides that his boss …

Obama demands more than Israel can give  —  Every so often, the sayings of Casey Stengel come to mind.  The longtime manager of the New York Yankees, accustomed to a Prussian professionalism in the hitting and fielding of baseballs, moved over to the astonishingly hapless New York Mets in 1962 and …

MacArthur Foundation Honors 23  —  The creator of the television series “The Wire,” about drugs, poverty and corruption in Baltimore; a historian who traced the lives of a slave family connected to Thomas Jefferson; and an economist who helped calculate the worth of a standout kindergarten teacher …

FBI Investigating Ex-SEIU President Andy Stern  —  WASHINGTON — The FBI and the U.S. Labor Department are investigating prominent labor leader Andy Stern in their probe of corruption at the Service Employees International Union, according to two people who have been interviewed by federal agents.

Drones Target Terror Plot  —  CIA Strikes Intensify in Pakistan Amid Heightened Threats in Europe  —  WASHINGTON—In an effort to foil a suspected terrorist plot against European targets, the Central Intelligence Agency has ramped up missile strikes against militants in Pakistan's tribal regions, current and former officials say.

A Dark Horse Emerges in Alaska: The Incumbent  —  JUNEAU, Alaska — The night Lisa Murkowski announced she would mount a write-in campaign to retain her Senate seat, she acknowledged to a crowd of supporters that her odds were slim.  Then she prompted a defiant roar: invoking Native Alaskan culture …

9/28: Gillibrand Leads DioGuardi, 52% to 41%, Among Likely Voters  —  Both of New York's seats in the U.S. Senate are up in this November's midterm elections.  In the race between Democratic U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and her Republican opponent, Joseph DioGuardi, Gillibrand holds …

Global warming critic plots revenge  —  Most House Republicans envision killing Nancy Pelosi's special global warming committee if they claw their way back into the majority this November.  —  But one senior GOP lawmaker has another idea in mind: sweet revenge.

Charges dismissed against Md. man who taped traffic stop  —  A Harford County Circuit Court judge Monday dismissed wiretapping charges against Anthony Graber, a motorcyclist who was jailed briefly after he taped a Maryland state trooper who stopped him for speeding on I-95.

Thune: Decision on presidential run to come by next spring  —  U.S. Sen. John Thune said Monday that he will decide by next spring whether to run for president in 2012.  —  “I wouldn't anticipate anything being formalized until sometime next year,” the South Dakota Republican said.

Why income distribution can't be crowd-sourced.  —  Earlier this month I published a 10-part Slate series (PDF; serial version; slide show) about the 30-year rise in income inequality that Princeton's Paul Krugman has dubbed “The Great Divergence.”  In the first installment, I noted that in 1915 …

Harvard Pilgrim cancels Medicare Advantage plan  —  Harvard Pilgrim Health Care has notified customers that it will drop its Medicare Advantage health insurance program at the end of the year, forcing 22,000 senior citizens in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine to seek alternative supplemental coverage.