There's a little pork in that bill: The 5 most surprising provisions in the debt deal  —  (CNN) — So much for a “clean” bill.  The measure passed by Congress to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling also contains some goodies and gifts tucked into the 35-page bill.

Cory Booker makes history as he defeats Steve Lonegan in U.S. Senate election  —  NEWARK — Cory Booker's star-quality and his skill at surviving the roughhouse politics of New Jersey's biggest city took him from the mayor's office to the U.S. Senate today in a hard-fought victory over Republican iconoclast Steve Lonegan.

Right-wing nuts nab new way to sabotage Obamacare  —  One low-profile component could prove costly  —  The final deal to avert a breach of the debt limit and end the government shutdown included what has been described as a “small concession” to Republicans: tightening the income verification measures …

Ted Cruz left with few friends after Obamacare fight fails, government shutdown ends, debt limit rises  —  Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he wouldn't try to block the Senate agreement.  “There's nothing to be gained from delaying this vote one day or two days.  The outcome will be the same,” Cruz said.

House Stenographer Yanked From Chamber Ranting About God, Freemasons  —  A government stenographer is believed to be in a Washington, DC-area hospital on Thursday after being forcibly removed from the House of Representatives chamber Wednesday night while shouting into the microphone during …

The Year of Living Carlos Dangerously  —  Anthony Weiner's sexting addiction nuked his political career (twice!), endangered his marriage (twice!), and turned him into a walking penis joke (forever!).  —  Marshall Sella tails Weiner through his doomed campaign for New York mayor …

The Republican Surrender  —  President Obama signed the bill reopening the government and lifting the debt ceiling early Thursday morning.  —  The Republican Party slunk away on Wednesday from its failed, ruinous strategy to get its way through the use of havoc.

Hillary Clinton, Welcome to the White House  —  She has no Democratic challenger, and the Republican Party is no longer a credible opposition force.  —  Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton smiles as she waits to answer questions from an audience at Chatham House on October 11, 2013 in London, England.

Documents reveal NSA's extensive involvement in targeted killing program  —  It was an innocuous e-mail, one of millions sent every day by spouses with updates on the situation at home.  But this one was of particular interest to the National Security Agency and contained clues that put …

Conservatives Learned The Wrong Lessons From The Shutdown Debacle  —  For a certain block of House conservatives, the ones who drove Speaker John Boehner toward a government shutdown and near-default against his will, the lesson of the last few weeks isn't that they overreached.

Kenya shopping mall attack: Chilling new footage from inside Westgate shows terrorists casually gunning down innocent shoppers  —  The video also shows terrorists calmly chatting on their mobile phones and taking turns to kneel down and pray  —  Warning: Video contains images that some may find disturbing.

Republicans are wasting no time in rewriting the history of their own defeat.  —  For the men and women of the U.S. Senate, Wednesday morning was a time of jubilation.  Hark—a deal was born!  Sens. Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell came bearing a bipartisan agreement that punted the debt …

Mental Floss Exclusive: Our Interview with Bill Watterson! … For the December issue of mental_floss magazine, Jake Rossen managed to do something we thought was impossible—he snagged an interview with the legendary Bill Watterson!  Since we're guessing there are a few Calvin and Hobbes enthusiasts …

Graham: Polls factored into GOP folding  —  Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Wednesday that the polling backlash against the Republican Party was one of the reasons Senate Republicans were eager to cut a deal with Democrats.  —  “Well you can't let 20 or 30 polls cloud you're thinking apparently …

Gohmert Responds to McCain's Dimwit Dig  —  After Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) called Tea Party stalwart Rep. Louie Gohmert “a person of no intelligence” in an interview on NBC Nightly News on Wednesday, the back and forth between the two continued Thursday with Gohmert suggesting that McCain “would be better off with ‘no intelligence.’”

Don't Execute the Man Who Paralyzed Me (Guest Column)  —  Joseph Paul Franklin, who has confessed to shooting Flynt in 1978 and been convicted in a series of racially motivated murders, is set for execution in Missouri in November.  Flynt writes for THR, “I have every reason to be overjoyed with that decision, but I am anything but.”