Is Grover Finally Over?  —  I once took a long train ride with Grover Norquist.  This wasn't intentional.  We found ourselves next to each other on the line to board an Acela from Washington, D.C., to New York, and we fell into a conversation, by which I mean that he did a great deal of talking …

Fox News Exec VP: Guest Who Slammed Network Apologized - But Not Publicly  —  UPDATED: Author Tom Ricks accused the network of “hyped” Benghazi coverage; Fox News' Michael Clemente says Ricks apologized but “doesn't have the strength of character to do that publicly.”  Ricks disputes.

Marijuana's foot in the door  —  SMALL-TIME MARIJUANA use will soon be legal in Colorado and Washington state.  Sort of.  —  This month voters in those states approved ballot measures permitting possession of up to an ounce of pot.  But the federal government has not changed its policy, which labels the drug an illegal substance.

Cox and Archer: Why $16 Trillion Only Hints at the True U.S. Debt  —  Hiding the government's liabilities from the public makes it seem that we can tax our way out of mounting deficits.  We can't.  —  A decade and a half ago, both of us served on President Clinton's Bipartisan Commission …

Senators ‘troubled’ after Rice talk  —  Sen. John McCain and two other GOP senators said they were “significantly troubled” after a private meeting with U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice about her erroneous explanation of the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Chinese Website Congratulates Kim Jong Un On Being Named Sexiest Man Alive By “The Onion”  —  China's Communist Party newspaper, People's Daily, congratulates the North Korean leader on being named the sexiest man alive by the the satirical American publication.  Seriously.  —  Zeke Miller

Exclusive: Jeb Bush Meets with Former Aides near White House  —  Washington, D.C. — Former Florida governor Jeb Bush met Monday with a group of his former staffers at the J. W. Marriott hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, just steps from the White House.  Bush, a potential 2016 presidential contender …

Most-Racial America  —  Antiwhite bigotry goes mainstream.  —  “Everytime [sic] I think the Democratic race card players could not get more vile, more deranged, more patronizingly demeaning to blacks, someone manages to defy even my vivid imagination,” thunders blogger William Jacobson.

CNN Poll: Americans rate W.H. response to Benghazi attack and Petraeus resignation  —  Washington (CNN) - Americans are giving the White House low marks for how it's handled the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and the resignation of former CIA Director David Petraeus, according to a new national survey.

The Epistemic Closure of the Epistemic Closure Pundits  —  Not THAT again.  —  More “right-wing epistemic closure” rhetoric.  It's all the rage these days in the wake of Mitt Romney's loss (keeping a large House majority and gaining in the States conveniently is ignored or belittled).

Germany to ban sex with animals: report  —  THE German government is about to reintroduce a ban on bestiality, after pressure from animal welfare groups.  —  Newspaper die Tageszeitung reports that the governing coalition are soon to amend the country's Animal Welfare Act to make sex …

City Is Amassing Trove of Cellphone Logs  —  When a cellphone is reported stolen in New York, the Police Department routinely subpoenas the phone's call records, from the day of the theft onward.  The logic is simple: If a thief uses the phone, a list of incoming and outgoing calls could lead to the suspect.

Who Should Be TIME's Person of the Year 2012?  —  As always, TIME's editors will choose the Person of the Year, but that doesn't mean readers shouldn't have their say.  Cast your vote for the person you think most influenced the news this year for better or worse.

The U.S. Supreme Court Allows New Challenge To Obamacare To Go Forward  —  Under the heading of “it's not over until it's over”, the United States Supreme Court has vacated a decision by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, ordering the appellate court to hear arguments on the constitutionality …

Anger as Hungary far-right leader demands lists of Jews  —  (Reuters) - A Hungarian far-right politician urged the government to draw up lists of Jews who pose a “national security risk”, stirring outrage among Jewish leaders who saw echoes of fascist policies that led to the Holocaust.

Dems Defend Filibuster Reform Effort: ‘McConnell Has Broken The Social Contract’  —  On the Senate floor Monday afternoon, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell railed against his counterpart, Harry Reid, and a “cohort of short-sighted Senate sophomores,” for proposing to modify …

Enclaves, Long Gated, Seek to Let In Storm Aid  —  Sea Gate looks the same as many storm-scattered waterfront communities do.  Home after home torn apart by the ocean.  Streets filled with sand.  Shattered sidewalks and clogged sewers.  A sea wall, which had already been inadequate …

Fox Host: People Who Died In Walmart Factory Fire Were Thankful For Their Jobs  —  The 129 Bangladeshis who died in a fire caused by poor fire safety conditions in their garment factory should be thankful for their jobs, according to Fox Business host Charles Payne.

Grape growers can sue USDA as Supreme Court stays out of the fight  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday provided legal juice for growers who want to sue the U.S. Agriculture Department and the California Table Grape Commission over grapevine patents.

The Internet's Best Terrible Person Goes to Jail: Can a Reviled Master Troll Become a Geek Hero?  —  On a gray Wednesday morning in October, the car headed west on the Lincoln Highway Bridge hit 100 miles per hour and I started to worry it might hurtle off into the tangle of rusted …