CNN Poll: Romney on top, Gingrich fading & Santorum rising in Iowa  —  Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) - Did Newt Gingrich peak too early?  —  A new survey of people likely to attend Iowa's Republican caucuses indicates that the former House speaker's support in the Hawkeye State is plunging.

Michele Bachmann chair defects to Ron Paul  —  In a shock announcement Wednesday night, Iowa state senator and onetime Michele Bachmann campaign leader Kent Sorenson declared that he is now supporting Ron Paul for president.  —  Sorenson made the announcement at a Paul rally with veterans …

Gingrich: Campaign worker's signature fraud cost slot on Virginia ballot  —  Algona, Iowa (CNN) - Newt Gingrich cited fraud Wednesday as the reason he didn't get on the Virginia primary ballot.  —  Last week his campaign acknowledged they used paid volunteers to scramble …

What We Think About When We Think About the Court  —  Wherever I go these days, someone is bound to ask me how I think the Supreme Court will rule in the challenge to the Affordable Care Act, set for argument over three days during the last week in March.  My response, that I expect the court …

Anthony Weiner Wanted Threesome With Another Man, According To Mistress  —  Disgraced former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner was caught in online trysts with numerous women, but RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned that according to one of his mistresses, he expressed wanting a threesome - with another man.

Chavez: U.S. May Be Behind Leaders' Cancer  —  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hinted that the U.S. may be behind a “very strange” bout of cancer affecting several leaders aligned with him in South America.  —  Chavez, speaking a day after Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner …

Tarzan co-star Cheetah dies at Palm Harbor sanctuary  —  Cheetah the chimpanzee, who acted in classic Tarzan movies in the early 1930s, died of kidney failure Saturday at Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor, a sanctuary spokeswoman said.  —  Cheetah was roughly 80 years old …

Is the Obama Boomlet Over?  —  Over the last week or so, there has been a lot of news coverage of Barack Obama's comeback in the polls.  I noted his modest bounce here, and Scott Rasmussen wrote us to say that he thought Obama's rise was due to increasing optimism about the economy.

Repo Men  —  If you're making money on the Wall Street scale — which is nothing like your boring, middle-management in the Fortune 500, Hamptons-and-Mercedes, barely-a-1 percenter type money — then you can buy basically anything.  When real-estate investor Robert Rosania put part …

Priests brawl in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity  —  Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests and monks came to blows during preparations for Orthodox Christmas celebrations  —  Scuffles have broken out between rival groups of Greek Orthodox and Armenian clerics in a turf war at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity.

Sen. Ben Nelson's Retirement Signals Twilight of Blue Dog Democrats  —  Centrist Sen. Ben Nelson's retirement puts the Democrats' Senate majority in jeopardy and could even spell trouble for Obama's reelection.  But the absence of his and other independent voices in Congress is the real danger.

What Moves Republican Crowds in Iowa  —  DES MOINES — The Republican candidates for president are doing a lot of talking in the last week before voting begins.  —  But spending a day observing how the crowds react to the candidates can be just as instructive.

The Times E-Mails Millions by Mistake to Say Subscriptions Were Canceled  —  Updated The New York Times said it accidentally sent e-mails on Wednesday to more than eight million people who had shared their information with the company, erroneously informing them they had canceled home delivery of the newspaper.

Jon Swift Memorial Roundup 2011  —  Welcome to a tradition started by the much missed Jon Swift/Al Weisel.  He left behind some excellent satire, but was also a nice guy and a strong supporter of small blogs.  As Lance Mannion puts it: … Here's his 2007 and 2008 editions.  Last year's revival is here.