Rick Sanchez Fired From CNN  —  CNN released this statement today:  —  “Rick Sanchez is no longer with the company.  We thank Rick for his years of service and we wish him well.”  —  They will broadcast CNN Newsroom from 3-5pm for the foreseeable future.  —  Here's more from the story earlier today:

Guv signs marijuana decriminalization bill  —  (10-01) 16:49 PDT Sacramento — Citing the need to reduce spending on prosecution and courts, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a measure that makes marijuana possession an infraction, on par with traffic and littering tickets.

Palin jousts with Rouse  —  (CNN) - Pete Rouse was just installed as White House chief of staff on Friday, but he's already been facing fire from Sarah Palin for over a week.  —  Now White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is hitting back, calling the former Alaska governor's accusations “fairly silly.”

Christine O'Donnell: After Witchcraft I Tried to Be A Hare Krishna — But Liked Meatballs Too Much (VIDEO)  —  In 1999 Christine O'Donnell told Bill Maher that she'd briefly tried Buddhism, and that she'd tried to be a Hare Krishna but couldn't take the vegetarianism.

Paladino switches gears and course-corrects (Updated)  —  Carl Paladino, in interviews with the Buffalo News and NY1, says he wasn't alleging Andrew Cuomo had affairs in his interview with me on Tuesday, and also that he wasn't suggesting that he had evidence to release on the topic.

Whitman within law, immigration lawyers say  —  (10-01) 04:00 PDT Washington - —  Whether or not Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman received a letter from the Social Security Administration saying her former housekeeper's false documents did not match its records …

The Political Wild Card  —  WILMINGTON — Before she was a Tea Party cause célèbre, liberal laughingstock and perhaps the embodiment of a can-you-top-this-for-bizarre political season, Christine O'Donnell grew up in a “Brady Bunch” household of six kids (three Democrats …

Bin Laden criticises Pakistan relief mission  —  * Al Qaeda leader urges action against climate change  —  Osama bin Laden criticised relief efforts in Pakistan and called for action against climate change in what appeared to be a new audio tape from the al Qaeda leader issued on Friday in an Islamist forum.

Al Gore fails to mention President Barack Obama during Democratic rally in Florida  —  Al Gore failed to mention President Barack Obama at a campaign rally in Florida as Democrats extended their new tactic for next month's elections - ignoring the man who so inspired them in 2008.

Eco-fascism jumps the shark: massive, epic fail!  —  I predicted this morning that No Pressure - Richard Curtis's spectacularly ill-judged eco-propaganda movie for the 10:10 campaign - would prove a disastrous own goal for the green movement.  —  But what I could never have imagined …

U.S. Apologizes for Syphilis Program in Guatemala  —  From 1946 to 1948, American public health doctors deliberately infected nearly 700 Guatemalans — prison inmates, mental patients and soldiers — with venereal diseases in what was meant as an effort to test the effectiveness of penicillin.

Hypocritical Liberals Beg Murdoch to Force Amnesty Views on Fox News  —  When news broke in August that News Corp., the media conglomerate owned by Rupert Murdoch, had donated a million dollars to the Republican Governor's Association, liberals howled that Murdoch's personal political views …

Liberals hope rally rivals Beck's  —  The rally liberal groups are staging at the National Mall on Saturday hasn't received nearly the media buzz of Glenn Beck's Aug. 28 rally, but organizers insist that their numbers will rival Beck's, which drew tens of thousands - or hundreds of thousands, depending on whose estimates you believe.

Exercise and Weight Loss  —  Ta-Nehisi Coates writes some about losing weight: … I think that's largely true.  The biggest gym-related thing I've done to lose weight is that I did some sessions with a personal trainer who warned me up front that you can't really lose weight in the gym—you need to eat less food.

Insurer Cuts Health Plans as New Law Takes Hold  —  The Principal Financial Group announced on Thursday that it planned to stop selling health insurance, another sign of upheaval emerging among insurers as the new federal health law starts to take effect.  —  The company, based in Iowa …