U.S. alert focuses on planes, trucks  —  For more coverage visit CNN affiliates WPVI and WABC.  Are you there?  Send pictures and video.  —  (CNN) — Suspicious packages found in at least two locations abroad that were bound for Jewish organizations in the United States …

Why is Assange still alive?  —  I'd like to ask a simple question: Why isn't Julian Assange dead?  —  In case you didn't know, Assange is the Australian computer programmer behind WikiLeaks, a massive — and massively successful — effort to disclose secret or classified information.

Divided We Fail  —  Barring a huge upset, Republicans will take control of at least one house of Congress next week.  How worried should we be by that prospect?  —  Not very, say some pundits.  After all, the last time Republicans controlled Congress while a Democrat lived in the White House …

Crist Would Caucus With Democrats, Advisor Says  —  Florida Gov. Charlie Crist would caucus with Senate Democrats if he wins Florida's three-way U.S. Senate contest on Tuesday, a close advisor told Washington Wire Friday.  —  That's a big “if.”  Mr. Crist is trailing Republican candidate Marco Rubio in most polls.

Ohio McDonald's employees get voting instructions with their paychecks  —  If you work for this Canton, Ohio McDonald's franchise, you'd better be voting Republican if you know what's good for you.  —  Via ThinkProgress: … The “right people” are John Kasich, Rob Portman, and Jim Renacci for this franchisee.

Harry Reid: Sharron Angle is “pathological”  —  Harry Reid, who seems to be running out of ways to describe Sharron Angle as mentally unbalanced, is out with a new ad that comes right out and brands her “pathological”:  —  The spot shows Angle running away from reporters.

Boykin Exposes Obama's Health Care Conspiracy to Build His Brownshirt Army  —  This is Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin, who was the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence under Donald Rumsfeld until video emerged of him explaining that we were engaged in a spiritual war against Islam …

Poll: Murkowski Leads Miller, McAdams  —  Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) remains ahead of her two rivals in her write-in Senate campaign in Alaska, according to a new poll released today by an in-state Republican pollster.  —  The poll, conducted by Dittman Research & Communications …

Woman Receives Death Threats Days After Beck Targets Her On His Show  —  The League of Women Voters has filed complaints with police in Evanston, IL and the FBI saying that one of their officials has been targeted by death threats relating to a candidatess debate she moderated last week.

Attack Ads, Circa 1800  —  Have this year's negative political ads really “taken dirty to a whole new level, as CNN's Anderson Cooper frets?  Is a “return to civility...a relic of a bygone era,” as President Barack Obama laments?  —  Er, not exactly.  —  If anonymous political speech …

Fox News Poll: Most Dissatisfied With Washington  —  With less than a week to go before Election Day, widespread dissatisfaction with the way things are going in the country combined with negative views of the economy and frustration with the government point to major trouble for the incumbent majority Democrats.

Sources: Fox Management Slanting D.C. Bureau's News Coverage  —  Pressure on some Fox News reporters in the Washington, D.C., bureau to “slant news” and “distort” coverage has sparked some discontent in the newsroom there, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

NYT: Jon Stewart's ‘Restore Sanity’ Will ‘Parody’ Glenn Beck's ‘Religious-Themed Rally’  —  Didn't Jon Stewart tell the media “Restore Sanity” was not a response to Glenn Beck?  Yes, he did.  —  According to what the New York Times has dug up, Jon Stewart's “Restore Sanity” …

Failing Upward: Breitbart To Be Featured in ABC's 2010 Election Coverage  —  Media Matters has confirmed that noted propagandist Andrew Breitbart will provide analysis for ABC News during their election night coverage.  —  After Breitbart's BigJournalism.com website reported that Breitbart would …

Pelosi, Among Others, Could Exit if Dems Lose House  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrives for a press conference on Capitol Hill to discuss Democratic accomplishments during the past congressional session  —  As Nancy Pelosi goes, so might a generation of her colleagues.

And the FAIR Tax Trap  —  Democrats turn a conservative fad against GOP candidates.  —  Public anxiety over rising taxes is helping Republicans in this midterm election—with one exception.  Democrats are trying to turn the tables on the GOP over the so-called FAIR Tax …