Mystery Missile Launch Seen off Calif. Coast  —  Military Mum on Nature of “Big Missile” Rising Out of Pacific - a Possible Show of U.S. Military Might  —  (CBS) A mysterious missile launch off the southern California coast was caught by CBS affiliate KCBS's cameras Monday night …

Sarah Palin, Media Critic  —  The former veep candidate (and journalism major) misleads readers on the WSJ with selective quotes  —  Aw, shucks.  —  Sarah Palin is “just a former governor and current housewife from Alaska, but even humble folks like (her) can read the newspaper.”  —  Reading's one thing.

For Indonesia and Obama, 4th Time's the Charm  —  JAKARTA, Indonesia — It is the presidential homecoming that wasn't meant to be.  —  Enlarge This Image  —  President Obama during a news conference with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia on Tuesday in Jakarta.

Cantor, Republicans signal Obama tax proposal is dead in the water  —  The Obama administration's hopes of reaching a tax deal with Republicans that would decouple rates on the rich from the middle class appear dead.  —  House GOP Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) threw cold water on the proposed plan …

Ted Rall Book Excerpt: Let's Kill Some Christians and Tea Partiers  —  Ted Rall has a new book out titled The Anti-American Manifesto.  In it he makes an explicit call for a violent socialist revolution from within.  In case you think this is all a big joke, here's an excerpt from the book:

Republicans May Yet Have Upper Hand in Senate  —  On paper, the numbers tell you the Democrats held on to a majority in the Senate last week.  —  In reality, things won't be quite that neat.  In fact, on some issues the Republicans actually may have a functional majority …

A New Bush, a Lot Like the Old One  —  He said he still felt sickened that no weapons of mass destruction were ever found in Iraq.  Yet former President George W. Bush said that his worst moment in the Oval Office came when the rap star Kanye West claimed that the president didn't care about black people.

No Charges in Destruction of C.I.A. Interrogation Tapes  —  WASHINGTON — A federal prosecutor will not bring criminal charges against any of the Central Intelligence Agency officers involved in destroying videotapes depicting the brutal interrogation of Al Qaeda detainees, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.

In Alaska, a preview of the GOP's future  —  Alaska is darker in winter, colder all year and less densely populated than any other state.  Alaskans are unique, too: They enjoy a higher level of per capita federal spending than anyone else in the union, as well as a state constitution …

Alvin Greene mulls presidential bid  —  'Maybe.  I'll have to see,' Alvin Greene said about running for president.  —  Alvin Greene might run for president.  —  Greene, the unlikely Democratic Senate nominee in South Carolina who lost overwhelmingly to Republican Sen. Jim DeMint last week …

Dem leadership race turns bitter as Clyburn, Hoyer exchange barbs  —  Rep. James Clyburn said Rep. Steny Hoyer's tactics are breaking with tradition and making Democrats uncomfortable.  —  The comments are the first hint of bitterness between Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Rep. Steny Hoyer …

Obama's Best Speech  —  In India, the president defended free markets, free trade and free societies.  —  Every now and then a columnist ought to shock and dismay his most faithful readers.  So here goes: Barack Obama gave a terrific speech yesterday to India's parliament …

Progressives don't really get progress, but the American people do  —  Progressives claim to have a monopoly on progress - designed by intellectuals who ‘know better’ and brought about by a big, beneficent government.  But Americans voted in last week's elections that this brand …

My Application for Peter Thiel  —  Via Twitter, I see that one of the questions Peter Thiel asks applicants to his fellowship program (which unlike some of his philanthropic endeavors sounds to me like a totally good idea) is “Tell us one thing about the world that you strongly believe is true, but that most people think is not true.”

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — November 2010  —  The November 2010 tracking poll was conducted in the days following the mid-term election that resulted in major gains for Republicans, including a shift in control of the House of Representatives.  The survey attempts to gauge …

Obama Approval Advances to 47%, Up From 43% Pre-Election  —  Weekly average of 45% and demographic support patterns are unchanged  —  PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama earned a 47% approval rating from the American public in Gallup Daily tracking from Friday through Sunday …

U.S. Report Faults Christie, as Prosecutor, on Hotel Stays  —  WASHINGTON — When he was a top federal prosecutor, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey routinely billed taxpayers for hotel stays whose cost exceeded government guidelines, according to a report the Justice Department released on Monday.

Proficiency of Black Students Is Found to Be Far Lower Than Expected  —  An achievement gap separating black from white students has long been documented — a social divide extremely vexing to policy makers and the target of one blast of school reform after another.

And the GOP primary numbers...  PPP numbers looking ahead to the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination contest in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania find Mitt Romney looking strong in New England and the West and Mike Huckabee with a slight edge in the Midwest.

The bashing of American exceptionalism  —  Leftists mocking those who believe in the greatness of the U.S. is nothing new.  But their bizarre insistence that it's an artifact of right-wing jingoism and xenophobia certainly isn't helping Obama.  —  Last year, when asked if he believed …

Trade and QE2  —  The cavalcade of international whinging about QE2—the Federal Reserve's effort to lower medium-term interest rates—is really telling and important to understand.  The first thing to understand it, I think, is that QE2 is not primarily about international trade.

Union Card Checkmate  —  Voters in four states protect the secret ballot.  —  As the lame duck session of the Pelosi Congress nears, one fear is that Democrats will try to force through some last-minute liberal legislation, in particular “card check” to kill the secret ballot in union elections.