Analysis: Republicans Are Working Out the Terms of Their Surrender  —  ANALYSIS:  —  Beware of irrational exuberance.  Thursday night's meeting between President Obama and House Republican leaders was clearly a breakthrough, but both sides are cautioning this morning that progress is fragile.

In U.S., Perceived Need for Third Party Reaches New High  —  Twenty-six percent believe Democratic and Republican parties do adequate job  —  This article is part of an ongoing series analyzing how the government shutdown and the debate over raising the debt ceiling are affecting Americans' views …

How Democrats Can Get to Yes  —  If they want to end the shutdown and avoid default, they must find a way to let Republicans save face.  —  Google is a pretty amazing thing.  The other day I was thinking about the government-shutdown mess and how it might be resolved …

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2013  —  The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2013 is to be awarded to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons.  —  During World War One, chemical weapons were used to a considerable degree.

Perkins: Cruz is de facto leader of Republican Party  —  Washington (CNN) — As trench warfare over the government shutdown drags into its 11th day, a number of Republicans with visible roles in the stalemate, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, will take a breather …

C.I.A. Warning on Snowden in '09 Said to Slip Through the Cracks  —  WASHINGTON — Just as Edward J. Snowden was preparing to leave Geneva and a job as a C.I.A. technician in 2009, his supervisor wrote a derogatory report in his personnel file, noting a distinct change in the young man's behavior …

Will the Kamikaze Caucus Doom the GOP?  —  When Congress devolves into perpetual conflict, each party's more militant voices gain influence at the expense of its deal-makers.  —  When congressional insiders say John Boehner could lose his speakership if he moves to end the confrontations …

The Last Days of the GOP  —  We could be witnessing the death throes of the Republican Party  —  I once wrote about lobbying, and this week I called some Republicans I used to talk to (and some that they recommended I talk to) about the effect the shutdown is having on the Republican Party in Washington.

Obamacare Foes Using Shutdown Echo South's Nullifiers  —  The Tea Party-inspired drive to derail Obamacare is anchored in a place where opposition to the federal government is as old as the nation: the American South.  —  The current fight, a budget standoff that threatens the creditworthiness of the U.S …

Dealing With Default  —  So Republicans may have decided to raise the debt ceiling without conditions attached — the details still aren't clear.  Maybe that's the end of that particular extortion tactic, but maybe not, because, at best, we're only looking at a very short-term extension.

The Ferg-beast attacks  —  I'm breaking my blogging hiatus to briefly respond to Niall Ferguson, not because I'm mad, but because it's fun.  For those who haven't seen it, Ferguson has posted a massive three-part rant (part 1, part 2, part 3) in which he attempts to take Paul Krugman to task …

NC has money to resume funding WIC program  —  North Carolina has enough federal money to provide food to the state's low-income mothers and their babies, the state budget director said Thursday.  —  Art Pope said there is enough money on hand to fully fund the WIC program …