Obama declares H1N1 national emergency, easing rules for hospitals  —  Officials prepare for a surge in H1N1 cases  —  President Obama has declared H1N1 swine flu a national emergency, clearing the way for his health chief to give hospitals wider leeway in how they handle a possible surge of new patients …

Leaderless: Senate Pushes For Public Option Without Obama's Support  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  President Barack Obama is actively discouraging Senate Democrats in their effort to include a public insurance option with a state opt-out clause as part of health care reform.

White House on Beirut Marine Barracks Bombing—Can't Remember Who Murdered 241 Americans  —  [Please subscribe.  There's too much news from the Middle East to miss a single article; and too little good analysis in the media to miss a single analysis.]  —  By Barry Rubin

How an Insurance Mandate Could Leave Many Worse Off  —  AMERICANS seem to like the idea of broadening health insurance coverage, but they may not want to be forced to buy it.  With health care costs high and rising, such government mandates would make many people worse off.

Campaign to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Picks a Number  —  Campaigners against global warming have drawn on an arsenal of visually startling tactics over the years, from posing nude on a Swiss glacier to scaling smokestacks at coal-fired power plants.  —  On Saturday, they tried something …

The Inevitability Myth  —  Health care reform is not a fait accompli  —  Did the Democrats become Calvinists when we weren't looking?  Lately they've been talking an awful lot about predestination.  They want to claim that Obamacare's victory is foreordained, that the health care debate is over and …

If Lenders Say ‘The Dog Ate Your Mortgage’  —  FOR decades, when troubled homeowners and banks battled over delinquent mortgages, it wasn't a contest.  Homes went into foreclosure, and lenders took control of the property.  —  On top of that, courts rubber-stamped the array of foreclosure charges …

Over 100 Dead in Suicide Car Bombings in Baghdad  —  BAGHDAD — A pair of suicide car bombs exploded almost simultaneously in downtown Baghdad on Sunday, targeting two government buildings and killing at least 132 people and wounding 520, according to the Ministry of the Interior.

My Letter to the Editorial Page Editor of the L.A. Times Regarding That Fact-Challenged Pro-ACORN Op-Ed Written by the ACORN Consultant  —  I have sent the following e-mail to Nick Goldberg, the Editorial Page Editor for the Los Angeles Times: … As always, I'll let you know what I hear back.

Biden Team Drafts Its Own Counterterrorism Strategy After Defense Dept. Declines  —  If you want to see just how little credence Vice President Joe Biden's plan for Afghanistan has inside military circles, look no further than this paragraph from an article written by Peter Spiegel and Yochi Dreazen for the Wall Street Journal:

Karzai rules out sharing power  —  TALIBAN MAKES THREATS Fraud fears linger over disputed election  —  KABUL — President Hamid Karzai's team shifted aggressively into campaign mode Saturday and ruled out any possibility of a power-sharing deal with challenger Abdullah Abdullah ahead of a runoff election in two weeks.

Learning to Love Insider Trading  —  Here's a hot tip: Want to keep companies honest, make the markets work more efficiently and encourage investors to diversify?  Let insiders buy and sell, argues Donald J. Boudreaux.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  It's Halloween season …