Biden's Son Hunter Discharged From Navy Reserve After Failing Cocaine Test  —  Lawyer Pursued Military Service Relatively Late as a Public-Affairs Officer  —  WASHINGTON—Vice President Joe Biden 's son Hunter was discharged from the Navy Reserve this year after testing positive for cocaine …

Hospital Worker Who Handled Ebola Samples Is on Cruise Ship  —  A Dallas health care worker who handled clinical specimens from an Ebola-infected patient is on a cruise ship in the Caribbean, with the worker self-quarantined and being monitored for signs of infection, the State Department said in a statement.

As Dems sweat Iowa, Sen. Tom Harkin sits on millions  —  Cernojevich said that Harkin has headlined more than 20 fundraisers for Braley and attended more than 30 events to raise money for the Senate hopeful and other Iowa Democrats on the ticket.  In addition to a $10,000 donation …

“It's An Object of Gallows Humor for the Staff”  —  TPM Reader JM on Rick Scott, hospital preparedness and the “Ebola cart” ...

Ebola, Wall Street stock slide deepen '14 gloom for Dems  —  The Democrats' midterm prospects took a beating this week as concerns over the Ebola virus and a jittery economy churned up countless grim headlines and darkened an already-dissatisfied national mood.

Here Are The Most Conservative And Liberal Names In America  —  There's... a pattern.  —  Chris Ritter / BuzzFeed  —  The most conservative and liberal names in America are Doyle and Natasha.  —  Crowdpac, a nonpartisan group, focuses on how money and policy work in politics.

Alarm after vomiting passenger dies on flight from Nigeria to JFK  —  Demonstrators demand a travel ban outside the White House on Oct. 16 to stop the spread of the Ebola virus.  —  A plane from Nigeria landed at JFK Airport Thursday with a male passenger aboard who had died during the flight …

How Older Voters Will Decide Your Future  —  Older voters are the electorate's fast growing demographic - and a major reason Republicans can win big in 2016.  —  The political impact of shifting demographics is a hot topic.  Judging from the coverage, it would be easy to assume …

No one at the helm on Ebola  —  The spread of Ebola in America, once described in repeated reassurances as only a remote possibility, has caught our health system flat-footed.  Sadly, that doesn't come as a big surprise.  —  But now, weeks after the disease was first diagnosed in our country …

Everyone In What Looks Like A Group Photo On GOP Governor's Website Is Photoshopped  —  On Gov. Tom Corbett's campaign website.  Update (6:58 p.m.): The Corbett campaign says the “whole website footer graphic” is Photoshopped, including a stock image of a black woman.

Insiders Blame Rove for Covering Up Iraq's Real WMD  —  There's one man, some Republicans say, who kept the public from learning about the chemical shells littered around Iraq.  He was Bush's most important political adviser.  —  Starting in 2004, some members of the George W. Bush administration …

Bill Maher: Yes, I Can Generalize About Muslims  —  The outspoken Real Time host dishes on a variety of topics, including his “Flip A District” campaign, the controversy in the wake of his throw down with Ben Affleck over Islam, and more.  —  Bill Maher has been making some pretty big headlines of late.

Teen mother gives tot to heroin user, then claims son was kidnapped, St. Charles police say  —  • By Susan Weich sweich@post-dispatch.com 636-493-9674  —  ST. CHARLES  • A teen mother who told police someone had kidnapped her toddler really gave her son away to a heroin user, police said.

How Deadspin F**ked Up The Cory Gardner Story  —  On Wednesday, Deadspin published a story questioning the football bona fides of U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner, a Republican who's running for the Colorado Senate seat currently occupied by Democrat Mark Udall.  We f**ked up.