What search trends tell us about Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party  —  When we launched our Political Trendspotters Contest last week, we heard from a number of users who wanted us to explore the trends around the Occupy Wall Street movement.  After spending many days in the top 20 terms on Google Trends …

TRENDING: Tea party group to Bachmann: Quit the presidential race  —  (CNN) - A tea party group has a surprising and harsh urging for long-time tea party favorite Michele Bachmann: Quit the presidential race.  —  “It's time for Michelle [sic] Bachmann to go,” reads the first line of a statement …

White House turns the screws on Congress over 9 percent approval  —  A number of White House officials, sensing momentum on their side, blasted Republicans in Congress and on the campaign trail, mocking recent measures and Congress's 9 percent approval rating.

War vet hurt in Occupy Oakland protest improving  —  (10-27) 14:16 PDT OAKLAND —  An Iraq war veteran who was injured during the raucous Occupy Oakland protest Tuesday night was upgraded to fair condition this morning at Highland Hospital in Oakland, a nursing supervisor said.

Rick Perry may skip some debates  —  Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry argue during a GOP presidential debate.  (AP Photo/Chris Carlson / October 18, 2011)  —  After a series of poor debate performances in the early months of his presidential campaign …

Internal labor memo warns Ohio union fight could go either way  —  What if the public polls predicing a sizable labor win in the Ohio battle over collective bargaining are just flat-out wrong?  —  With many pundits predicting a comfortable win for unions, even pols like Mitt Romney seem to be edging away from the anti-labor side.

Economists React: ‘Where Are the Recession Calls Now?’  —  Economists and others weigh in on the 2.5% growth in GDP at a seasonally adjusted annual rate.  —Broad based gains indeed with consumer spending, business investment, structures and residential investment up... Modest growth …

Bully's Brutal Assault of Gay Ohio High School Student Caught on Camera: VIDEO  —  A student at Union-Scioto High School in Chillicothe, Ohio was brutally beaten this week by another student for being gay.  Class members watched as the bully waited for the student to arrive in the classroom …

Gingrich, Cain Debate Carries Big Price Tag  —  When Abraham Lincoln debated Stephen Douglas in seven counties over three months in 1858, thousands packed town squares to hear the two men face off over three hours.  And no one paid a dime for the pleasure.  —  Fast forward to Nov. 5th …

House schedule too light, say Democrats  —  The House will retain its pattern of working two weeks in Washington followed by a week of district work under its 2012 legislative calendar, released Thursday by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).  —  The schedule calls for more weeks …

North Korea bans citizens working in Libya from returning home  —  North Korea has banned its own citizens working in Libya from returning home, apparently out of fear that they will reveal the extent - and final outcomes - of the revolutions that have shaken the Arab world.  —  North Korean leader Kim Jong-il

Occupy Portland fears it has lost up to $20,000 in donations  —  Organizers of Occupy Portland say they fear as much as $20,000 donated to the group through a PayPal account has disappeared.  —  They also say the group's finance committee has hijacked the demonstration's Internet domain name …

Do Crosses at Catholic University Violate “Human Rights” of Muslims?  —  The Washington, D.C. Office of Human Rights confirmed that it is investigating allegations that Catholic University violated the human rights of Muslim students by not allowing them to form a Muslim student group …

Mortgage Registry MERS Sued by Delaware Attorney General  —  Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) — Merscorp Inc., the operator of a national mortgage registry used by banks, was sued by Delaware's attorney general for allegedly using deceptive practices that hide information from borrowers.

Millionaires Support Warren Buffett's Tax on the Rich  —  Warren Buffett isn't the only rich guy who wants to higher taxes on the rich.  —  A new survey from Spectrem Group found that 68% of millionaires (those with investments of $1 million or more) support raising taxes on those with $1 million or more in income.

Oliver Stone to Direct ‘Power Broker’ Film for HBO (Exclusive) … HBO is getting political with director Oliver Stone.  —  The premium cable network is developing a film based on Robert Caro's classic nonfiction book The Power Broker.  Like the 1974 Pulitzer Prize-winning tome …

Defense official under investigation resigns  —  A Pentagon official who was being investigated for what whistleblowers called incompetence, extravagant spending, cronyism and “tyrannical” management has resigned.  —  The Defense Department announced Thursday that Clifford Stanley …

Richmond tea party: Charge Occupy protesters or refund $10,000 we spent to rally in Virginia  —  Richmond, Va. — The Richmond tea party is demanding a refund of about $10,000 from the city, claiming it unfairly charged them for rallies while allowing the Occupy protesters to use the same space for several weeks for free.

Google Refuses to Remove Police-Brutality Videos  —  But the company could do more to explain why it chooses to deny certain requests to remove content and yet complies with others  —  Google's latest Transparency Report contains this tantalizing bit: … Good on Google.

11 Charged in $1 Billion L.I.R.R. Disability Scheme  —  Eleven people, including two doctors and a former union president, were charged on Thursday in a “massive fraud scheme” in which hundreds of Long Island Rail Road workers made false disability pension claims that could have cost …

Exxon Mobil profit soars 41%  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Exxon Mobil reported quarterly earnings of $10.3 billion on Thursday, a surge of 41% from a year earlier.  —  Why?  Higher prices for oil and natural gas.  —  Profit at the oil company soared compared to the same period a year ago, when it was $7.4 billion.