Baucus Nominated Girlfriend for U.S. Attorney  —  Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus' office confirmed late Friday night that the Montana Democrat was carrying on an affair with his state office director, Melodee Hanes, when he nominated her to be U.S. attorney in Montana.

Met Office to re-examine 160 years of climate data  —  The Met Office plans to re-examine 160 years of temperature data after admitting that public confidence in the science on man-made global warming has been shattered by leaked e-mails.  —  The new analysis of the data will take three years …

Beck's ‘Christmas Sweater’ flops in major cities, just 17 tickets sold in New York and Boston.  —  Last night, Fox News host Glenn Beck premiered his new live show based on his book The Christmas Sweater, which was simulcast to hundreds of movie theaters across the country.

Is Erik Prince ‘Graymailing’ the US Government?  —  The in-depth Vanity Fair profile of the infamous owner of Blackwater, Erik Prince, is remarkable on many levels—not least among them that Prince appeared to give the story's author, former CIA lawyer Adam Ciralsky, unprecedented access …

Palin Gets Another Ethics Complaint (Read Her Staff's Emails)  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Yet another ethics complaint has been filed against former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, this time on the grounds that both she and her staff used official state facilities and resources for “partisan political purposes.”

No Way, No How, to the Public Option  —  The Connecticut senator, free of partisan loyalties, has a pivotal role in the health-care debate.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  'About two months ago my wife and I were out with another couple, and they said 'So, how's it going?'—and I knew what they meant.

The $700 billion man  —  NEVADA COUNTY, CALIF. — He wears no coat though it's freezing, shines no light though it's near midnight, carries no shotgun though he's tramping on the pine-needled tracks of black bears.  —  He wants to be lost in these woods.  —  “Come on, you bums,” …

Aetna Forcing 600,000-Plus To Lose Coverage In Effort To Raise Profits  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Health insurance giant Aetna is planning to force up to 650,000 clients to drop their coverage next year as it seeks to raise additional revenue to meet profit expectations.

Parliamentary Speaker: Climate debate derailed?  —  The Speaker of the Danish Parliament has issued a damning criticism of the climate debate, saying politicians gullibly turn theories into facts.  —  TEKST  —  As the world prepares to converge on Copenhagen for the COP15 Climate Summit …

The Lost Weekend  —  The Senate is going to be in session all weekend, debating the big health care bill and arguing about which direction the cost-curve is heading.  This is a positive development on two counts.  It keeps senators off the streets while providing much-needed employment in the chart-making sector of our economy.

Palin Puts The Trig Question Back On The Table  —  Sarah Palin has now made two very clear public statements in the last day about the legitimacy of questions about the maternity of her son Trig.  Here's the first, transcribed from the interview above: … And here's the second, a later Facebook attempt to walk back some of this:

The Conformity Movement  —  IN A RECENT CNN POLL, THE REPUBLICAN RANK AND FILE PREFERRED IDEOLOGICAL PURITY OVER ELECTABILITY.  —  Republicans may soon get their own version of the Ten Commandments.  Led by James Bopp Jr. of Indiana, a group of conservative members of the Republican National Committee plans …

Similarities to Iraq Surge Plan Mask Risks in Afghanistan  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama strongly opposed President George W. Bush's surge in Iraq during his presidential campaign, and even now he has never publicly acknowledged that it was largely successful.

Sen. Sherrod Brown joins Republicans in demanding that Congress go on ‘public option,’ too  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Whenever Democrats talk about their proposed federally backed insurance plan, or public option, in the ongoing health-care debate, critics pipe up.

McCain's madder than he's ever been  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) says he's “madder than he's ever been.”  —  And that's saying something.  —  Don Imus and the Arizona Republican were talking Friday morning about the February stimulus vote when McCain, who kept his famous temper at bay during the '08 campaign, went Howard Beale.

Sarah Palin says US should rededicate itself to God  —  Sarah Palin has said the United States should rededicate itself to seeking God's will.  —  The former US vice-presidential candidate argued that a humble spirit could help leaders to get more answers on issues such as health care, energy and national security.

Palin, Frank to Speak at Gridiron Dinner  —  This might not make the Sarah Palin Twitter feed.  —  The former Alaska governor and one-time vice presidential candidate has been traveling the country in recent weeks, promoting her book and disparaging Democrats, the Washington establishment and the media elite.

Apple Strikes Deal to Buy the Music Start-Up Lala  —  SAN FRANCISCO — In the most recent sign that Apple is looking at alternative ways for people to store and play their digital music, the company has agreed to buy Lala, a four-year-old start-up based in Palo Alto, Calif., a person with knowledge of the deal said Friday.