NUCLEAR OPTION TRIGGERED: Dems Make Historic Change To Filibuster Rules  —  After years of threats and warnings, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and his Democratic majority on Thursday executed the “nuclear option” to eliminate the filibuster for executive branch and judicial nominees, except for the Supreme Court.

G.O.P. Maps Out Waves of Attacks Over Health Law  —  WASHINGTON — The memo distributed to House Republicans this week was concise and blunt, listing talking points and marching orders: “Because of Obamacare, I Lost My Insurance.”  “Obamacare Increases Health Care Costs.”

The race that broke the Cheney family  —  What happened when a gay sister came between Liz Cheney and a Senate seat.  —  Liz Cheney just wanted to enjoy her milkshake.  It was a Friday afternoon in early November, and the shadows were growing longer over the flat expanse of eastern Wyoming as a hard week dragged on.

Obama's Image Machine: Monopolistic Propaganda Funded by You  —  News organizations protest White House restrictions on independent photo coverage.  —  New York Times photographer Doug Mills strode into Jay Carney's office Oct. 29 with a pile of pictures taken exclusively …

Obama's Race for the Cure  —  The President's second term may hinge on how fast his health care reform can recover  —  A good President needs a big comfort zone.  He should be able to treat enemies as opportunities, appear authentic in joy and grief, stay cool under the hot lights.

Blame Rich, Overeducated Elites as Our Society Frays  —  Complex human societies, including our own, are fragile.  They are held together by an invisible web of mutual trust and social cooperation.  This web can fray easily, resulting in a wave of political instability, internal conflict and, sometimes, outright social collapse.

Good news, California: Surplus is $2.4 billion  —  Sacramento —  For the first time in nearly a decade, California is collecting more revenue than it is spending and will finish the fiscal year with an extra $2.4 billion, according to a report released Wednesday by the Legislature's nonpartisan budget analyst.

How Bush Let Iran Go Nuclear  —  AMERICAN and Iranian negotiators yesterday began a second round of talks in Geneva, seeking a deal on Iran's nuclear program.  —  If such an agreement were signed, it would represent an Iranian victory — and an American defeat.

Exclusive: Inside America's Plan to Kill Online Privacy Rights Everywhere  —  The United States and its key intelligence allies are quietly working behind the scenes to kneecap a mounting movement in the United Nations to promote a universal human right to online privacy …