Sources: Checketts to drop Limbaugh  —  Rush Limbaugh is expected to be dropped from a group bidding to buy the St. Louis Rams, according to three NFL sources.  —  Dave Checketts, chairman of the NHL's St. Louis Blues and the point man in the Limbaugh group attempting to buy the Rams …

Harry Reid abdicates his leadership role  —  Bill Frist never had 60 votes.  Bill Frist never cared.  Republicans ran the Senate as if they owned the place, even when enjoying razor-thin majorities.  —  Yet when Democrats took the chamber, the first thing Harry Reid did was complain …

Why Joe Biden Should Resign  —  Joe Biden met with CENTCOM chief Gen. David Petraeus this morning to talk about Afghanistan — an issue that has pushed the vice president into the spotlight, landing him on the cover of the latest Newsweek.  —  I have an idea for how he can capitalize on all the attention …

GOP senator's protest grinds Senate to a halt  —  Oklahoma's Coburn tries a filibuster after pet idea dropped from bill  —  WASHINGTON - The Senate ground to a halt Wednesday in a display of what an individual senator can do to protest his treatment by some of Capitol Hill's most powerful barons.

French troops were killed after Italy hushed up ‘bribes’ to Taleban  —  When ten French soldiers were killed last year in an ambush by Afghan insurgents in what had seemed a relatively peaceful area, the French public were horrified.  —  Their revulsion increased with the news …

Tentative Inspection Program Would Allow Russia to Visit U.S. Nuclear Sites  —  The plan, which Fox News has learned was agreed to in principle during negotiations, would constitute the most intrusive weapons inspection program the U.S. has ever accepted.  —  FOXNews.com

Election 2010: Pennsylvania Senate Election  —  2010 Pennsylvania Senate: Toomey Leads Specter, Runs Even With Sestak  —  Republican-turned-Democratic Senator Arlen Specter trails potential GOP challenger Pat Toomey by five points in an early look at Pennsylvania's 2010 Senate race.

President Obama's Crucial Afghanistan Decision  —  Afghanistan could be the most important decision of Barack Obama's presidency.  Maybe that's why he is, in effect, making it twice.  —  What's odd about the administration's review of Afghanistan policy is that it is revisiting issues …

Maverick fallout: GOP won't retaliate  —  Mitch McConnell and his deputies in the Senate Republican leadership are responding very cautiously to Olympia Snowe's decision to become the first GOP vote for a Democratic health care reform bill.  —  That's about all they can do.

Stagnant Prices Prevent Social Security Increase  —  President Obama on Wednesday attempted to preempt the announcement that Social Security recipients will not get an increase in their benefit checks for the first time in three decades, encouraging Congress to provide a one-time payment …

Daily Number: 15% - America's Health Care is ... Fairly Average  —  Only 15% of Americans believe that the U.S. has the best health care in the world.  Read more  —  THE TOP STORY INDEX  —  New Media Index  —  Celebrity Jeopardy: Polanski on Blogs  —  8 Oct 09 The Roman Polanski saga …

Report Card Due on Stimulus  —  Data to Provide Clues on Job Creation, Though Few Details  —  The public will get its first granular look Thursday at how the $787 billion stimulus package is being spent — but the information may leave armchair auditors dissatisfied, and the data on job-creation data will be less than definitive.

NOW MUSLIMS DEMAND: GIVE US FULL SHARIA LAW  —  A RADICAL Muslim group sparked outrage last night as it launched a massive campaign to impose sharia law on Britain.  —  The fanatical group Islam4UK has ­announced plans to hold a potentially ­incendiary rally in London later this month.

An Apartment Complex Teeters  —  High-Profile Tishman/BlackRock Property in New York in Danger of Default  —  The giant Stuyvesant Town apartment complex on Manhattan's East Side, shown Tuesday, was developed by MetLife for World War II veterans.  —  One of the biggest …

Photos of Military Deaths in Afghanistan Banned  —  NEW YORK The U.S. military in eastern Afghanistan recently changed its media embed rules to ban pictures of troops killed in the war.  —  “Media will not be allowed to photograph or record video of U.S. personnel killed in action,” …

Contrarian Double-X hires sociopath as friendship expert  —  Double-X shrewdly hired noted sociopath Lucinda Rosenfeld to write its friendship column.  This is precisely the kind of fresh, contrarian perspective we've come to expect from the Slate/Double-X brand.

Palin Plans New Political Group  —  Michael M. Phillips reports on the doings of conservative favorite Sarah Palin.  —  Sarah Palin fans can expect to see a new Palin political organization surface as her memoir, “Going Rogue: An American Life,” hits the shelves next month.

Bolton suggests nuclear attack on Iran  —  This Friday, the American Enterprise Institute will host an event addressing the question “Should Israel attack Iran?”  The event includes, among others, Iran uberhawk Michael Rubin and infamous “torture lawyer” John Yoo, but the real star is likely …

Sean Hannity on Nobel Peace Prize: 'Frankly, I would've given it to George Bush.'  —  Last night, Fox News host Sean Hannity hosted a panel that debated the merits of President Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize.  After complaining about Obama's goal of eliminating nuclear weapons and claiming …

Stanley McChrystal's Long War  —  Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal stepped off the whirring Black Hawk and headed straight into town.  He had come to Garmsir, a dusty outpost along the Helmand River in southern Afghanistan, to size up the war that President Obama has asked him to save.

Perils of a Talking Head  —  Anyone who regularly does TV interviews knows that one is always required to do a pre-interview in which a producer feels you out as to what you will say in response to certain hypothetical questions.  It would be simpler if they just came out and said …

Blue Cross group blasts reform legislation  —  Premiums will rise up to 50 percent for individual policies and 19 percent for small group plans if healthcare reform passes, a new report released by a major health industry trade group claims.  —  Sponsored by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association …

Muslim parents win battle with runaway teen  —  (CNN) — A runaway teen who said her father threatened to kill her for converting from Islam to Christianity will be returned to Ohio once her immigration status has been clarified, a Florida judge ruled Tuesday.