Ebola Vaccine Would Likely Have Been Found By Now If Not For Budget Cuts: NIH Director  —  BETHESDA, Md. — As the federal government frantically works to combat the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and as it responds to a second diagnosis of the disease at home, one of the country's top health officials …

Fat Lesbians Got All the Ebola Dollars, But Blame the GOP  —  Democrats have rushed out of the gate with an attack ad against Republicans claiming if only we had spent more money, we would be able to solve the Ebola situation.  —  It's a defensive ad that reeks of desperation.

Mitt Romney Told an Obama Joke in Iowa.  Here It Is.  —  WEST DES MOINES, Iowa - Mitt Romney wanted to tell a joke.  “Now when you're running for office people tell you, you shouldn't tell jokes,” he said at a political rally here on Sunday.  “But I'm not running for office, so I can tell one.”

Davis Pollster: Controversial Wheelchair Ad Working … *Editor's note: This story has been updated with a comment from the Abbott campaign.  —  The pollster for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis defended her controversial TV ad Sunday, saying it's working as intended despite …

How Republicans Lost the Culture War  —  Perhaps Republicans were impatient with incremental progress.  Perhaps the party lacked a strong leadership figure who could keep fringe players in check.  But Republicans made a decision on abortion strategy that they didn't have to make.

The Big Lie Behind Voter ID Laws  —  Election Day is three weeks off, and Republican officials and legislators around the country are battling down to the wire to preserve strict and discriminatory new voting laws that could disenfranchise hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Americans.

What the Next Two Awful Years Will Look Like  —  The five things to fear about a Republican Congress  —  I. The Gutting of Dodd-Frank  —  If Republicans take control of the House and Senate, many of their members will call for the outright repeal of the Dodd-Frank financial reforms.

The FBI's bogus report on mass shootings  —  It's disheartening to see the FBI used to promote a political agenda, but that's what we got with the bureau's release last month of a study claim to show a sharp rise in mass shootings, a la Newtown, Conn.  —  The FBI counted 160 “mass” or …

U.S. CDC head criticized for blaming ‘protocol breach’ as nurse gets Ebola  —  (Reuters) - Some healthcare experts are bristling at the assertion by a top U.S. health official that a “protocol breach” caused a Dallas nurse to be infected with Ebola while caring for a dying patient …

Pentagon Says Global Warming Presents Immediate Security Threat  —  WASHINGTON — The Pentagon released a report Monday asserting decisively that climate change poses an immediate threat to national security, with increased risks from terrorism, infectious disease, global poverty and food shortages.

Accused College Rapists Have Rights, Too  —  The victims deserve justice.  The men deserve due process.  —  This August, Columbia University released a new policy for handling “gender-based” misconduct among students.  Since April, universities around the country have been rewriting …

Leaning Forward, MSNBC Loses Ground to Rival CNN  —  Rachel Maddow, the biggest star on the MSNBC cable network, just posted her lowest quarterly ratings results ever.  —  “Morning Joe,” MSNBC's signature morning program, scored its second-lowest quarterly ratings, reaching an average …

MERIA Special Report: Did ISIS Use Chemical Weapons Against the Kurds in Kobani?  —  *** WARNING: This post contains images which some readers may find disturbing.  Caution is advised.  Please scroll down to view these images.  —  The fate of Kobani city now hangs in the balance …

Louisiana attorney general tries to block ashes of Dallas Ebola victim from entering state  —  The incinerated ashes of Thomas Duncan's belongings are slated to be dumped in a hazardous waste landfill in Calcasieu Parish.  Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell says there are too many unknowns …

Cheney: ‘Very Dangerous Period ... More Threatening Than the Period Before 9/11’  —  Vice President Dick Cheney opened up for a nearly two hour interview with Bill Kristol, as part of the latest installment of Conversations With Bill Kristol:  —  The two discussed Cheney's time as secretary of defense …

Debate Night in Kentucky Gives Grimes Chance to Shake Things Up  —  Good Columbus Day morning from Washington, where the focus is on a prime-time Kentucky debate, four too-close-to-call governors' races, and the intensifying battle for control of the Senate, where Republicans have a 64 percent chance of taking the majority.

The Planet Just Had Its Hottest September On Record  —  Graph of NASA temperature data via @thingsbreak.Click to enlarge.  —  Last month was the warmest September globally since records began being kept in 1880, NASA reported Sunday.  January through September data have 2014 already at the third warmest on record.

Perdue cut work in India from bio  —  Georgia Republican David Perdue worked for an Indian company between his time running Dollar General and his decision to run for the Senate — a period that was removed from his business website's biography shortly before he announced his campaign last spring.

Synod14 - Eleventh General Assembly: “Relatio post disceptationem” of the General Rapporteur, Card.  Péter ErdÅ'  —  Listening: the context and challenges to the family  —  The gaze on Christ: the Gospel of the Family  —  The gaze on Jesus and gradualness in the history of salvation

Hillary Clinton heckled by man with a bullhorn  —  Washington (CNN) — A man with a bullhorn interrupted Hillary Clinton on Sunday during a speech she was giving in San Diego.  —  The heckler, sporting a suit and tie, sounded a loud alarm with the bullhorn and began shouting at the former Secretary …

4 Pit Bulls Attack Animal Control Officer, Supervisor In Oklahoma; Arkansas ACO Also Attacked  —  Two Animal Control Officers were attacked by a pack of four dogs—all appearing to be Pit Bulls—in Oklahoma City on Friday, October 10, reports News9.  —  The first officer went to the 3400 block …

The war on leaks  —  What happens when the demands of national security collide with the rights of a free press?  Lesley Stahl finds out  —  The following is a script of “The War on Leaks” which aired on Oct. 12, 2014.  Lesley Stahl is the correspondent.  Richard Bonin, producer.

Dems: Don't trust the polls  —  Democrats have a new message in the 2014 race for the Senate: Don't trust the polls.  —  The party is stoking skepticism in the final stretch of the midterm campaign, providing a mirror image of conservative complaints in 2012 about “skewed” …