Chris Christie announces 11 a.m. presser  —  New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will hold a press conference Thursday morning, the day after controversy erupted over his office's involvement in a major September traffic snafu.  —  Christie will have a press availability at the governor's office …

Dennis Rodman apologizes for North Korea outburst, says he'd been drinking  —  Rodman, ex-NBAers play North Korea  —  (CNN) — Former NBA star Dennis Rodman apologized Thursday for his much-criticized outburst about an American citizen imprisoned in North Korea, saying he was stressed …

Swearing toddler removed from home  —  (CNN) — A Nebraska toddler who repeated a slew of profanities in an online video has been taken into child protective custody, Omaha police said Wednesday.  —  While authorities found nothing criminal in the video, officials from the Omaha police's Child Victim Unit …

Bill targeting environmental regs threatened with veto  —  The White House issued a veto threat Wednesday against House legislation meant to slash environmental red tape and give states more sway over federal facilities.  —  The chamber is poised to vote Thursday on a consolidated package …

‘Great Society’ agenda led to great — and lasting — philosophical divide  —  The ambitious “Great Society” agenda begun half a century ago continues to touch nearly every aspect of American life.  But the deep philosophical divide it created has come to define the nation's harsh politics, especially in the Obama era.

The Poverty Line Was Designed Assuming Every Family Had a Housewife Who Was a ‘Skillful Cook’  —  The official poverty line, as I wrote yesterday, is a dated and crude statistical concept that in many ways fails to capture America's historical success at fighting economic need.

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow hunkers down on Koch Bros. claim  —  Mark V. Holden is general counsel at Koch Industries Inc., and he has a big file relating to MSNBC.  The progressive cable network tends to make frequent references to Koch Industries and its politically active, free-market major shareholders Charles and David Koch.

Democrats blame big business for botched rollout  —  Democrats taking heat back home for Obamacare's rocky online rollout say don't blame them — blame Big Business.  —  Facing an onslaught of constituent frustration over problems with online exchanges, several Democrats have started pointing fingers …

Grim Sequel to Iraq's War  —  WASHINGTON — For two years, President Obama has boasted that he accomplished what his predecessor had not.  “I ended the war in Iraq,” he has told audience after audience.  But a resurgence by Islamic militants in western Iraq has reminded the world that the war is anything but over.

Sen. Durbin to GOP: Put down Ayn Rand books  —  Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) asked Republicans to stop reading Ayn Rand books and help Democrats pass legislation aimed to give struggling Americans a hand.  —  “I say to my conservative friends, put down those Ayn Rand books …

The White Ghetto  —  Owsley County, Ky. - There are lots of diversions in the Big White Ghetto, the vast moribund matrix of Wonder Bread-hued Appalachian towns and villages stretching from northern Mississippi to southern New York, a slowly dissipating nebula of poverty and misery with its heart …