Rick Perry crashes, Cain cheered at GOP debate  —  ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Rick Perry comeback hit a potentially disastrous snag Wednesday night, as the Texas governor again froze on the debate stage — this time, while attempting to list three federal agencies he'd eliminate as president.

Joe Paterno, Graham Spanier out  —  Both football coach Joe Paterno and president Graham Spanier are out at Penn State in the wake of a disturbing child sex abuse scandal involving a former assistant coach.  —  Paterno said in a statement Wednesday he would retire after the season …

The Financial Folly of Fairness  —  When I was a young and naive economics writer, I used to write about developing countries a fair amount.  Time and again they would make these bizarre and pointless moves, like suddenly and for no apparent reason defaulting on a bunch of debt.

Remains of war dead dumped in landfill  —  The Dover Air Force Base mortuary for years disposed of some dead troops' body parts by burning them and dumping the ashes in a Virginia landfill, a practice that officials have since abandoned in favor of burying the remains at sea.

Reggie Love, Obama ‘body man,’ to leave White House by year's end  —  Reggie Love, a key member of the Obama entourage, is planning to leave the White House by the end of the year, people close to the administration said.  —  Love, 30, is a popular, gregarious figure in the White House.

Obama, Romney Tied In Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll Finds; Cain, Romney Duel For Gop Lead In All Three States  —  One year before the presidential election, President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are running neck and neck in Florida …

Google+ Is Dead  —  The search behemoth might not realize it yet, but its chance to compete with Facebook has come and gone.  —  Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt didn't post his first Google+ message until three months after it went live  —  AFP/Getty Images.

Occupy Wall Street: Zucotti Square Day 53 & Counting - The Crazy Has Set In  —  So much has been said about this movement, it has no discernible point, it smells, it's violent, it has rapes, arson, assault, vandalism, theft and psychotics running the place along with a growing rap sheet, so I wasn't sure what else I could find.

CNBC Debate Anchor Challenges Herman Cain Over ‘Princess Nancy’ Comment Given Recent Scandal  —  After Wednesday night's GOP debate on CNBC, candidate Herman Cain was asked about the booing that took place when he was asked about the allegations against him, as well as his decision to refer to Nancy Pelosi as “Princess Nancy.”

Obama Administration to Delay New 15-Cent Christmas Tree ‘Fee’  —  The U.S. Department of Agriculture is going to delay implementation and revisit a proposed new 15 cent fee on fresh-cut Christmas trees, sources tell ABC News.  The fee, requested by the National Christmas Tree Association in 2009 …

Police arrest man at Occupy Portland camp for throwing Molotov cocktail into stairwell at World Trade Center  —  A 29-year-old man was arrested this morning inside the Occupy Portland encampment, police said, on suspicion of throwing a Molotov cocktail onto a staircase at the World Trade Center last night.

NLRB lawyer: “We screwed up the U.S. economy”  —  New documents obtained by Judicial Watch show acting National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Lafe Solomon joking that the NLRB's suit against Boeing would kill jobs in South Carolina.  Commenting on a Planet Labor article whose headline …

Conservatives uniting to defeat Romney  —  A coalition of conservatives is working to organize the disparate groups opposing Mitt Romney as the Republican presidential nominee.  —  While much has been made of Romney's lack of support amongst conservative Republicans, the sense of malaise …

Parks Chief Blocked Plan for Grand Canyon Bottle Ban  —  Weary of plastic litter, Grand Canyon National Park officials were in the final stages of imposing a ban on the sale of disposable water bottles in the Grand Canyon late last year when the nation's parks chief abruptly blocked the plan …

Back to Common Sense at the Polls  —  It might have been “too much too soon,” a chastened Gov. John Kasich of Ohio admitted on Tuesday night, after his state's voters overwhelmingly rejected his attempt to break public employee unions.  He certainly was right about “too much,” …

Basic Rights Oregon will not put same-sex marriage on 2012 ballot  —  After a three-year campaign to build support for legalizing same-sex marriage, Oregon's largest gay rights group has decided against putting the issue up for a vote in 2012.  —  Feedback from an online survey of over 1,000 people …

Dem lawmaker would be fine with supercommittee failure, automatic cuts  —  A Democratic legislator said it would be fine with him if the supercommittee failed to reach agreement and steep, automatic cuts to domestic and defense spending happened.  —  “I hope that they cannot reach an agreement …