Cain rises in Post-ABC poll despite scandal; most Republicans dismiss allegations  —  Businessman Herman Cain and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney are running nearly even atop the field of 2012 GOP presidential hopefuls, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows …

ACORN Officials Scramble, Firing Workers and Shredding Documents, After Exposed as Players Behind Occupy Wall Street Protests  —  Officials with the revamped ACORN office in New York — operating as New York Communities for Change — have fired staff, shredded reams of documents and told workers …

Moore Lashes Out At CBS4 Over Wealth Questions  —  Filmmaker Visits Occupy Denver Protesters  —  DENVER (CBS4) - Filmmaker and activist Michael Moore joined a growing crowd at the “Occupy” Denver protest Thursday evening, but his encounter with CBS4 left him fuming when he was asked …

As Regulators Pressed Changes, Corzine Pushed Back, and Won  —  Months before MF Global teetered on the brink, federal regulators were seeking to rein in the types of risky trades that contributed to the firm's collapse.  But they faced opposition from an influential opponent: Jon S. Corzine …

Deranged homeless man goes on violent rampage in Zuccotti Park  —  This is the new face of Zuccotti Park!  —  A deranged homeless man who has been squatting among the Occupy Wall Street protesters in lower Manhattan went on a violent, early-morning rampage yesterday, cursing incoherently and kicking down tents.

Developer with shotgun scared off Oakland rioters  —  OAKLAND — Oakland developer Phil Tagami is used to working behind the scenes to broker some of the biggest deals in town.  Late Wednesday, he was using different persuasive skills - holding a loaded shotgun to scare away rioters trying to get into a downtown building.

Deadbeat Rep. Joe Walsh, Who Owes $100k In Child Support, Receives ‘Pro-Family’ Award From Family Research Council  —  In July, the press learned that Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL), a Tea Party freshman in Congress, owed $117,000 in unpaid child support to his ex-wife.

Obama's Flunking Economy: The Real Cause  —  Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President  —  Harper, 515 pp., $29.99  —  Ron Suskind's Confidence Men is not a calm first draft of history.  It is not an impartial or unbiased look at the Obama administration's first two years.

Oligarchy, American Style  —  Inequality is back in the news, largely thanks to Occupy Wall Street, but with an assist from the Congressional Budget Office.  And you know what that means: It's time to roll out the obfuscators!  —  Anyone who has tracked this issue over time knows what I mean.

Jobs report hints at some improvement  —  (Reuters) - U.S. employment rose less than expected in October, but a drop in the jobless rate to a six-month low of 9.0 percent and upward revisions to prior months' job gains pointed to a strengthening labor market.

U.S. Tightens Drone Rules  —  The Central Intelligence Agency has made a series of secret concessions in its drone campaign after military and diplomatic officials complained large strikes were damaging the fragile U.S. relationship with Pakistan.  —  The covert drones are credited …

Debbie Wasserman Schultz: Saying Life Begins at Conception Is ‘Extreme and Radical’  —  (CNSNews.com) - Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Fla.), chair of the Democratic National Committee, said Thursday that for states to enact constitutional amendments that say human life begins at conception is “an extreme and radical step.”

Dippin' Dots Files for Bankruptcy  —  The future of ice cream is having trouble surviving today.  —  Dippin' Dots Inc., the self-described “ice cream of the future,” filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Paducah, Ky., near its headquarters …

Corpses Don't Rebel: A former follower of Michael Pearl's “To Train Up A Child” reacts to the death of Hana Williams  —  Trigger Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of infant and child abuse.  —  www.youtube.com/watch?  v=BP3gvhaA4uo  —  This piece was submitted …

State Department training Islamic political parties in Egypt  —  U.S. assistance to Egypt is helping political parties of all ideologies prepare for the upcoming elections — even Islamic parties that may have anti-Western agendas.  —  “We don't do party support.

A Democratic convention tests a right-to-work state  —  As the Democratic National Convention gets rolling in Charlotte, the tensions between the party's labor allies and North Carolina's fiercely anti-labor political and business leaders remains on the surface.

‘As consistent as human beings can be’  —  Several weeks ago, in one of the more amusing political claims of the year, Mitt Romney boasted, “I stand by my positions.  I'm proud of them.”  Given Romney's record of abandoning every policy position he's ever taken, it was hard not to marvel at his shamelessness.