CNN's Carol Costello apologizes for Palin remarks  —  CNN's Carol Costello apologized on Thursday for joking about a police recording of Bristol Palin.  —  “Over the past few days I have been roundly criticized for joking about a brawl involving the Palin family.

Joni Ernst: My Gun Will Defend Me If Government Decides ‘My Rights Are No Longer Important’  —  WASHINGTON — Joni Ernst, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Iowa, said during an NRA event in 2012 that she would use a gun to defend herself from the government.

Kids from poorer neighborhoods keep coming to trick-or-treat in mine.  Do I have to give them candy?  —  Get Dear Prudence delivered to your inbox each week; click here to sign up.  Please send your questions for publication to prudence@slate.com.  (Questions may be edited.)

The Democrats' Coming Blame Game  —  Less than two weeks before Election Day, Democrats are bracing for losses—and are already quietly trying to shift the blame.  —  Years of disappointment and tension between Democrats and their president are now on open display as politicians …

Obama Is Too Cool for Crisis Management  —  By the time President Obama gave in and appointed an Ebola czar on Oct. 17, the White House response to this latest national crisis had already run a familiar course: the initial assurance that everything was under control; the subsequent realization that it wasn't …

Darren Wilson's lawyer speaks out on leaked Brown autopsy  —  After details from an official autopsy on Michael Brown were exposed to reporters, legal counsel for Darren Wilson, the officer who shot and killed the slain teen, spoke out for the first time since the investigation, saying …

Rand Paul Summons Political Operatives for 2016 Strategy Session  —  The closely guarded gathering ahead of Paul's likely presidential run will happen only eight days after the midterms.  —  Sen. Rand Paul is summoning his top strategists and political advisers to Washington one week …

Oops: Scott Brown lists self as Mass. state senator in recent campaign filing  —  New Hampshire Republican U.S. Senate candidate Scott Brown tried to politically navigate how he could run for office in the Granite State thirteen weeks after officially moving here from Massachusetts.

The Only Thing I Have To Say About Gamer Gate  —  I had a day off this weekend from shooting Supernatural, and I was walking around downtown Vancouver on Saturday, sampling all the artisan coffee I could get my throat around.  At one point I saw a pair of guys walking towards me wearing gamer shirts.

The Kind Of Racism That ‘Dear White People’ Overlooks  —  This post contains spoilers.  —  If you haven't seen Dear White People, you should.  It's the first film in years to really confront black identities, of which there are many, in a sharp and funny way.

King on gays: 'I don't expect to meet them should I make it to heaven'  —  Congressman speaks exclusively to the Herald  —  U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron, suggests gays won't make it to heaven.  —  What's more, in an interview, King intimated that the divorced or cohabitators could be thwarted …

Baby girl killed in Jerusalem is an American, US official says  —  Terrorist kills infant, wounds several, after ramming...  Watch: Car drives into crowd at light rail station in...  Netanyahu blames Abbas incitement for Jerusalem terro...  Shimshon Halperin, mourns the loss of his granddaughter Chaya Zissel Braun.

At $4 Billion, 2014 Is Most Expensive Midterm Ever  —  Nearly $4 billion will have been spent on this year's midterm election, including $2.7 billion spent by candidates and parties and almost $900 million spent by outside groups, according to a projection by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

9 percent of likely 2014 voters are ‘enthusiastic’ about President Obama  —  We've written plenty on this blog about Democrats' enthusiasm deficit in the 2014 election.  This gap was, is and will almost definitely continue to be real through Nov. 4.  —  But while it's well understood …

Does Raising the Minimum Wage Hurt Employment?  Evidence from China  —  Raising the minimum wage is a polarizing issue.  One side worries that raising it will lower employment.  The other side downplays the impact on employment and plays up the positive impact on the living standards of the poor.

UT/TT Poll: Abbott Holds Commanding Lead Over Davis … UT/TT Poll, October 2014: Summary UT/TT Poll, October 2014: Methodology  —  Republican Greg Abbott has a 16-point lead over Democrat Wendy Davis in the closing days of this year's general election for governor, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

Suspected killer in Ottawa shootings had a disturbing side  —  Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, the slain 32-year-old suspected killer of a Canadian Forces soldier near Parliament Hill, was a labourer and small-time criminal - a man who had had a religious awakening and seemed to have become mentally unstable.

VIDEO: NYPD Officer Kicks Colleague in the Head During Arrest  —  BROOKLYN — An undercover NYPD officer rushing in to aid uniformed colleagues making an arrest kicked one of them in the head after apparently mistaking him for a suspect, a video obtained by DNAinfo New York shows.

Richardson Reacts to New Poll Indicating Swing in His Favor  —  PORTLAND, Ore.- A dramatic shift in poll numbers has taken place since Governor John Kitzhaber's campaign became riddled with scandal.  A poll commissioned by KATU has Dennis Richardson with a surprising double-digit lead.

The Poll Tax That Wasn't  —  In her dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called the law “purposely discriminatory,” and everyone piled in behind her with denunciations of the Lone Star State's blatant racism.  —  For the left, voter ID is tantamount to a poll tax.

Should the Poor Be Allowed to Vote?  —  If Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters succeed in booting C.Y. Leung from power, the city's unelected chief executive should consider coming to the United States.  He might fit in well in the Republican Party.  —  In an interview Monday …