Bill Clinton Holds Forth on Tax Plan, for Starters  —  WASHINGTON — They have been foes and they have been, kind of, friends.  And on Friday afternoon, President Obama and former President Bill Clinton walked unexpectedly into the White House briefing room for a news conference …

Bernie Sanders: In 2007, “the top 1 percent of all income earners in the United States made 23.5 percent of all income,” which is “more than the entire bottom 50 percent.”  —  Bernie Sanders, in viral speech, says top 1 percent earn more than 23 percent of U.S. income

Palin-Hating Columbia Professor, Huffington Post Blogger, Busted for Incest  —  Let's begin with a flashback, shall we?  In July 2009, when Sarah Palin resigned as governor of Alaska, Columbia University professor David Epstein wrote at his Huffington Post blog: … Got that?

In Tapes, Nixon Rails About Jews and Blacks  —  YORBA LINDA, Calif. — Richard M. Nixon made disparaging remarks about Jews, blacks, Italian-Americans and Irish-Americans in a series of extended conversations with top aides and his personal secretary, recorded in the Oval Office 16 months before he resigned as president.

Navy Sets World Record With Incredible, Sci-Fi Weapon  —  U.S. Navy engineers at the Office of Naval Research prepared and test-fired a slug from their rail gun in a 2008 test firing.  On Friday, December 9, the ONR will attempt to break its own record.  —  A theoretical dream for decades …

Poll: Obama's losing support; Romney would beat him now  —  WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's approval ratings have sunk to the lowest level of his presidency, so low that he'd lose the White House to Republican Mitt Romney if the election were held today, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll.

Jeremy Marks “Attempted Lynching” Case  —  Black teen who filmed an LAUSD campus cop hitting a student faces bizarre charges and years in prison  —  On Dec. 2, Jeremy Marks, a Verdugo Hills High School special education student, was offered a new plea offer by the L.A. County District Attorney …

Invaders from Mars  —  “Voting doesn't change anything — the politicians always win.”  'Twas not always so, but I'm hearing variations on that theme a lot these days, and not just in the UK.  —  Why do we feel so politically powerless?  Why is the world so obviously going to hell in a handbasket?

Ellison: Dems must “create crisis” to force GOP on tax cut  —  St. Paul, Minn. — Minnesota 5th District Congressman Keith Ellison said Thursday that Democratic lawmakers “need to create a real crisis” to force Republicans to renegotiate the tax cut compromise.

Cenotaph hooligan is son of Pink Floyd star: Cambridge history student in riot outrage says he didn't know what memorial stood for  —  The long-haired lout who defiled the Cenotaph is the son of millionaire Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour.  —  Charlie Gilmour, 21, was also in the baying mob …

From Audacity to Animosity  —  No president has alienated his base the way Obama has.  —  We have not in our lifetimes seen a president in this position.  He spent his first year losing the center, which elected him, and his second losing his base, which is supposed to provide his troops.