Eyewitness comes forward on ‘Palin brawl’  —  Eric Thompson was having fun with friends and his wife at a party in South Anchorage on Saturday night.  Thompson, who is 56 years old, was the designated driver for the evening, so he wasn't drinking.  But that was okay with him.  He was among friends.

Obama's Betrayal of the Constitution  —  BERLIN — PRESIDENT OBAMA's declaration of war against the terrorist group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria marks a decisive break in the American constitutional tradition.  Nothing attempted by his predecessor, George W. Bush, remotely compares in imperial hubris.

Adrian Peterson Indicted For Child Abuse, Will Not Play Sunday  —  MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - A grand jury has indicted Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson with reckless or negligent injury to a child, and will not play in this Sunday's game against the New England Patriots.

I apologize for the length of this post, but given the gravity of the issue at hand when I sat down to write late last night a long list of things came to my mind.  —  More than anything, I am struck by two truths.  One, it seems that history well documents that those who work to avoid conflict …

Rob Ford drops out of mayoral race, Doug Ford running in his place  —  Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has withdrawn from the mayoral race, with brother Doug Ford registering to run in his place.  —  The mayor's campaign spokesman Jeff Silverstein appeared at City Hall's election services office Friday afternoon …

Cops: Zimmerman threatened man  —  Lake Mary police say driver did not want to press charges  —  Author: Daniel Dahm, Managing Editor of ClickOrlando.com, ddahm@clickorlando.com  —  LAKE MARY, Fla. -  —  George Zimmerman threatened to kill a driver during a road rage incident in Lake Mary …

Israeli intelligence veterans refuse to spy on Palestinians  —  Dozens of veterans of an elite Israeli military signals intelligence unit have said they will no longer serve in operations against Palestinians.  —  Forty-three past and present reservists signed a letter about Unit 8200, which carries out electronic surveillance.

Ted Cruz and the most cynical, despicable political stunt of the year  —  Aggressively supporting Israel is a political winner for conservatives.  But when it comes at the expense of persecuted Christians who fear for their lives...  Berating a persecuted religious minority for your own political gain?

‘So Little Compassion’: Foley Parents on Gov't ‘Threats’ … The mother of slain American journalist James Foley said she wasn't necessarily surprised that the U.S. government threatened her family with prosecution should they raise money to pay her son's ransom, but she was astounded by how such a devastating message was delivered.

GOP Senate's first 100 days  —  Republicans are putting together an agenda for the first 100 days of 2015 in case they win control of the Senate.  —  Authorizing the Keystone XL oil pipeline, approving “fast-track” trade authority, wiping out proposed environmental regulations and repealing the medical device tax top their list.

Wide Partisan Differences Over the Issues That Matter in 2014  —  GOP Continues to Hold Engagement Advantage  —  Heading into the final weeks before the midterm elections, Republican and Democratic voters are split not only over their candidate preferences, but also about the importance of key issues in the election.

The Inflation Cult  —  Wish I'd said that!  Earlier this week, Jesse Eisinger of ProPublica, writing on The Times's DealBook blog, compared people who keep predicting runaway inflation to “true believers whose faith in a predicted apocalypse persists even after it fails to materialize.”  Indeed.

Scotland and the SNP: Fooling yourselves and deceiving others  —  There are many laudable reasons to campaign for Scottish independence.  But how far should those who passionately want independence be prepared to go to achieve that goal?  Should they, for example, deceive the Scottish people about the basic economics involved?

After Obama's Islamic State Speech, the Real Work Begins  —  Appraising the Syrian opposition and finding allies are among the challenges the U.S. effort faces.  —  Free Syrian Army members take position west of Idlib, Syria.  The president's plan for airstrikes against the Islamic State group …

Daily Kos Elections Polling Wrap: Recent data hints at a ‘Macro/Micro’ polling divide  —  On a week that has arguably been among the better polling weeks for the Democrats, an unheralded story has been the recent move on the generic ballot, and how it seems to be contrary to what we saw (at least, this week) in race-by-race polling.