Osama bin Laden dead: Blackout during raid on bin Laden compound  —  The head of the CIA admitted yesterday that there was no live video footage of the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound as further doubts emerged about the US version of events.  —  Leon Panetta, director of the CIA …

Budget talks: Republicans offer to seek common ground with Democrats  —  Senior Republicans conceded Wednesday that a deal is unlikely on a contentious plan to overhaul Medicare and offered to open budget talks with the White House by focusing on areas where both parties can agree, such as cutting farm subsidies.

Obama floats plan to tax cars by the mile  —  The Obama administration has floated a transportation authorization bill that would require the study and implementation of a plan to tax automobile drivers based on how many miles they drive.  —  The plan is a part of the administration's …

GOP Hopefuls Get Ready to Rumble in First 2012 Presidential Debate  —  Republicans jockeying for position to challenge President Obama next year will have their first showdown Thursday night in South Carolina, a state that has held the first presidential primary in the South since 1980 …

Jobless claims hit 8-month high  —  A woman browses job openings at a job fair in Los Angeles, October 12, 2010.  REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits rose to an eight-month high last week and productivity growth slowed in the first quarter …

CUNY Blocks Honor for Tony Kushner  —  In a rare move, the trustees of the City University of New York have voted to shelve an honorary degree that one of its campuses, John Jay College, planned to award to Tony Kushner, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of “Angels in America.”

Terrorist Group Setting Up Operations Near Border  —  Hezbollah Considered To Be More Advanced Than Al-Qaida  —  SAN DIEGO — A terrorist organization whose home base is in the Middle East has established another home base across the border in Mexico.  —  “They are recognized by many experts …

If Supermarkets Were Like Public Schools  —  What if groceries were paid for by taxes, and you were assigned a store based on where you live?  —  Teachers unions and their political allies argue that market forces can't supply quality education.  According to them, only our existing system …

Is Gold About to Go Vertical?  —  Gold is in a bubble.  Anyone will tell you that.  They've been saying it since gold was about, oh, $500 an ounce.  —  But it's a funny kind of a bubble.  It's the only one I've encountered where so few people seem to own the asset in question.