NBC poll: Mitt Romney, Ron Paul neck-and-neck in Iowa; Newt Gingrich in 5th  —  In the past two weeks, support has fallen sharply in Iowa for Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich.  NBC's Chuck Todd reports.  —  By NBC's Mark Murray  —  Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney …

Keynes Was Right  —  “The boom, not the slump, is the right time for austerity at the Treasury.”  So declared John Maynard Keynes in 1937, even as F.D.R. was about to prove him right by trying to balance the budget too soon, sending the United States economy — which had been steadily recovering …

WordPress Takes Down “Bare Naked Islam” Blog After Threats From CAIR  —  WordPress took down Bare Naked Islam Blog today after threats from CAIR.

TPM2012  —  Ron Paul Downplays Newsletters : Only ‘Eight To Ten Sentences’ Were Offensive  —  Ron Paul on Thursday downplayed the fringe aspects of his old newsletters, saying on an Iowa radio program that the most offensive passages were probably only a small portion of the overall content.

An Election Year Dawns Without Keith Olbermann  —  Keith Olbermann, who came to Current TV this year to remake the channel and compete against his old home, MSNBC, is sitting out the biggest political nights of the season.  —  Despite being the biggest star on the fledging channel …

Customers Encouraged to Use Options to Avoid Single Payment Fee That Starts Jan. 15  —  Customer Inquiries  —  For customer inquiries, please call 800-922-0204 or go to  —  Verizon Wireless offers customers numerous free and simple payment options and we encourage customers to use those options.

Occupy Hawaii Island Movement Plans Protest Near Pelosi's Posh Hawaiian Hotel  —  BY MALIA ZIMMERMAN - U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, one of the most powerful supporters of the Occupy Wall Street movement, may be in the right place at the right time to protest with the Big Island branch of the movement, Occupy Hawaii Island.

Beutler brushes off Senate speculation; Nelson staff mulls campaign funds  —  Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler on Thursday brushed aside reports putting him on a wish list of leading 2012 Democratic Senate prospects in the wake of Sen. Ben Nelson's decision not to seek re-election.

Obama visits Pearl Harbor for first time since entering office  —  President Obama on Thursday evening made his first trip to Pearl Harbor since becoming commander-in-chief.  —  The president and first lady Michelle Obama visited the USS Arizona Memorial, where they observed a moment …

9-Foot-Tall Supersoldier Mourns Kim Jong Il  —  At the Wire today, Dashiell Bennett highlights the North Korean state news agency's apparently random manipulation of an image from yesterday's funeral procession for Kim Jong Il — a crude photoshop job done, Bennett notes …

IOWA NOTEBOOK: Occupy Caucuses?  —  Rick Perry speaks at Smokey Row coffee shop  —  After days of chasing after campaigns, I find myself in the unusual position of waiting for the campaign to come to me.  Rick Santorum will be here in Davenport this evening for a 7 p.m. event …

Pakistani death squads go after informants to U.S. drone program  —  The militant group known as Khorasan Mujahedin terrorizes villages near the Afghan border.  Tribal elders say most of those killed are innocent.  —  A Pakistani villager holds the wreckage of a suspected surveillance drone …