Reid's ‘nuclear option’ changes rules, ends repeat filibusters  —  In a shocking development Thursday evening, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) triggered a rarely used procedural option informally called the “nuclear option” to change the Senate rules.

OWS: Here's the message you've all been waiting for  —  Lots of people, including this writer, have criticized the Occupy Wall Street movement for lacking a concrete goal.  I have found it.  I've come up with a single, clear demand — easily stated and easily realized.

Senator Scott Brown Calls In & Thanks Elizabeth Warren For Keeping Her Clothes On  —  WZLX's Kevin Karlson: “Have you officially responded to Elizabeth Warren's comment about how she didn't take her clothes off?”  —  Senator Scott Brown (laughs) “Thank God.”

Huntsman Hits Palin for ‘Stringing People Along’  —  ABC News' Shushannah Walshe (@shushwalshe) and Sarah Kunin (@sarah_kunin) Report:  —  In an interview with ABC's “The View,” presidential candidate Jon Huntsman rebuked former Gov. Sarah Palin for “stringing people along” as she decided whether to run for president.

Lindsey Graham On ‘Intimidation’: 'If You're A Southern White Guy, It Is Part Of Your Life'  —  GOP presidential candidate Gov. Rick Perry (TX) has faced severe backlash this week as the result of stories that he had opposed a campaign to remove the Confederate battle flag from statehouses across …

Cain Says He ‘Would Not Be Comfortable’ As Perry's Running Mate  —  Businessman Herman Cain, a Republican candidate for president, says he would consider running for vice presidential with anyone other than Texas Gov. Rick Perry.  —  HOUSTON — Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain …

Energy Department Official in Charge of Solyndra Loan Program to Step Down  —  The director of the controversial loan program that cleared the way for a $535 million taxpayer guarantee to bankrupt solar firm Solyndra is stepping down, the Energy Department confirmed Thursday.

BBC Does It Again: “In The Absence Of A Credible Plan We Will Have A Global Financial Meltdown In Two To Three Weeks” - IMF Advisor  —  A week after the BBC exploded Alessio Rastani to the stage, it has just done it all over again.  In an interview with IMF advisor Robert Shapiro …

Repeating the same mistake, expecting new results  —  The very first question in this morning's White House press conference was pretty discouraging: … Towards the end of the event, another reporter asked the nearly identical question: … Look, I realize the media loves the idea of compromise.

France bans ketchup in cafeterias  —  Well, it's allowed with one side dish (guess which one).  But putting it on veal or boeuf bourguignon is now interdit at schools nationwide.  —  Reporting from Paris— First France built a wall around its language to protect it from pernicious Anglo-Saxon invaders.

Five Truths About Climate Change  —  During the decade that Al Gore dominated the environmental debate, global carbon-dioxide emissions rose by 28.5%.  —  Over the past two months, environmental activists have held protests at the White House and elsewhere hoping to convince the Obama administration …

Essential Health Benefits: Balancing Coverage and Cost … The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) is intended to help uninsured Americans obtain health insurance.  As part of this effort, private health insurance plans will be offered to low- and moderate-income individuals …

America's six key lessons for a ‘euro Tarp’  —  “We told you so”.  That captures the reaction of many American bankers and policymakers towards Europe these days.  Ever since America unveiled its own troubled asset relief programme in 2008, observers in Washington and New York have muttered darkly …

The Presidential Horse Race  —  Literally: an animation of the 2012 Republican campaign as a horse race.  —  The press is routinely accused of covering political campaigns as if they were horse races: so preoccupied with who's up or down in the polls that it ignores the substance of the campaign.

Secret panel can put Americans on “kill list'  —  (Reuters) - American militants like Anwar al-Awlaki are placed on a kill or capture list by a secretive panel of senior government officials, which then informs the president of its decisions, according to officials.