MSNBC: CAIRO — Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei was under house arrest Friday, Egyptian security officials said, after Cairo became a scene of violent chaos with tens of thousands of anti-government protesters clashing with police. The demonstrations were a major escalation in the ongoing rallies against President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule. One of the country’s leading pro-democracy advocates, ElBaradei, took to the streets for the first time since his return to Egypt on Thursday. Police...

Chicago Tribune: The Illinois Supreme Court ruled today that Rahm Emanuel can stay on the ballot for mayor of Chicago. The decision comes without a moment to spare; early voting for the Feb. 22 city election begins Monday, Jan. 31. You can read the opinion by clicking here. A cheer went up at Emanuel’s headquarters when the news came out. The candidate was preparing to leave for tonight’s debate with the three other leading contenders. The high court’s decision reverses a 2-1 Illinois...

Washington Post: President Obama has chosen Jay Carney to serve as his new press secretary, replacing longtime loyalist Robert Gibbs who is leaving his post in mid February, according to a senior Administration official. [snip] Carney, who is currently communications director for Vice President Joe Biden, came to the White House in 2009 after a long career in journalism in which he served — among other posts — as Washington bureau chief of Time magazine. [snip]

MSNBC: Ill. court issues stay; Rahm back on the ballot. From NBC’s John Yang: The Illinois Supreme Court has just issued a stay of the appeals court’s order knocking Rahm Emanuel off the ballot and directing the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners to restore his name to the ballot. This is a strong indication that the court will accept the case and, perhaps, of which way the justices are leaning.

MSNBC: An Illinois Appeals Court has ruled that former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s name can’t appear on the ballot for Chicago mayor because he didn’t live in the city in the year before the election.

MSNBC: The bomb was packed with metal objects to cause maximum damage, according to law enforcement authorities. Reportedly 35 are dead and 20 more critically injured. Memeorandum MSNBC: RIA Novosti reported that two suicide bombers blew themselves up as people emerged from the international arrivals zone. Washington Post Foreign Service The explosion, which apparently took place near a cafe outside the international arrivals area, occurred at 4:37 p.m. local time, according to the Russian Air...

The New York Times: R. Sargent Shriver, the Kennedy in-law who became the founding director of the Peace Corps, the architect of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s war on poverty, the United States ambassador to France and the Democratic candidate for vice president in 1972, died Tuesday. He was 95.

The New York Times: Senator Joseph I. Lieberman will announce on Wednesday that he will not seek a fifth term, according to a person he told of his decision. Mr. Lieberman, whose term is up in 2012, chose to retire rather than risk being defeated, said the person, who spoke to the senator on Tuesday. “I don’t think he wanted to go out feet first,” the person said.

The New York Times: James J. Kilpatrick, a prominent conservative voice for half a century as a newspaper editor and columnist, author and television personality, died Sunday in Washington. He was 89. MORE

Via MSNBC: Judge: Calif. gay marriages can resume Aug. 18 Unclear whether there will be a new challenge by opponents before then

Chicago Tribune: Blago jury deadlocked on some counts The jury in Rod Blagojevich’s trial has reached verdicts on two counts, is deadlocked on others and hasn’t begun discussing 11 wire fraud counts. U.S. District Judge James Zagel instructed jurors to continue working. MORE

How will Charlie Rangel talk himself out of this one? Washington Post: Ethics panel outlines 13 charges against Rangel Case against the New York congressman goes before House ethics committee after efforts to reach a settlement apparently fall short….. MORE

A few times a year, we can enjoy musical political comedy by The Capitol Steps. The 4th of July is one of these times. Listen online at: Fourth of July 2010 Edition: Politics Takes A Holiday! Recorded live at the Ronald Reagan Building in DC. (One half hour: 4.5 MB) or check the schedule of these fine public radio stations.

I heard this appalling story on NPR while running errands this afternoon: Not So Neighborly Associations Foreclosing On Homes by Wade Goodwyn Capt. Mike Clauer was serving in Iraq last year as company commander of an Army National Guard unit assigned to escort convoys. It was exceedingly dangerous work — explosive devices buried in the road were a constant threat to the lives of Clauer and his men. He was halfway through his deployment when he got a bolt from the blue — a frantic phone call...

Update via MSNBC email – AP source: Obama chooses Gen. David Petraeus to replace McChrystal as top Afghan commander. According to MSNBC TV, Gen. McChrystal has been relieved of command. Obama to relieve McChrystal of command. Sources tell NBC News that the president has decided to replace him.

NBC: Suspect arrested in NYC bomb attempt Man is a Connecticut resident who bought the SUV at center of probe NEW YORK – Authorities arrested a suspect in the attempted weekend car bombing in Times Square, NBC News’ justice correspondent Pete Williams reported early Tuesday morning. A U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, Shahzad Faisal, was arrested Monday night on Long Island, Williams reported. Earlier, an official told The Associated Press that the potential suspect recently traveled...

Air Marshals Stop Alleged ‘Shoe Bomb’ Attempt On United Jet to Denver Qatari Diplomat In Custody After Attempting to ‘Light Up’ His Shoes MSNBC: Man may just have been smoking on flight from D.C. to Denver

UPDATE: The temblors, lasting at least 30 to 40 seconds were felt rolling through Temecula, about 100 miles northwest of Mexicali. “My apartment building started rolling and sloshing back and forth as if the foundations were resting on a bowl of jelly,” said a tenant, Jerry Remmers, a TMV columnist. “There was no damage but some residents, new to living in earthquake-prone areas, scrambled down the hallways for the emergency exits.” The Temecula-Hemet area in southern Riverside...

There have been multiple shooting attacks at Fort Hood according to MSNBC, KCEN-TV and KTVT-TV. At least 7 people are dead and 30+ are wounded. One shooter is in custody and 1-2 more are being sought. FBI is on the way. Both the shooters and victims are believed to be military rather than civilians, at least the shooters were wearing military fatigues. 4:30 pm EST: More shots just reported according to MSNBC-TV. 4:40 pm EST per MSNBC: “Two suspects were captured and four swat officers were...

Laugh in Tune! Listen to the Capitol Steps’ Halloween Show ‘Politics Takes A Holiday!’ on your local NPR station or online! Find an NPR Station or LISTEN ONLINE

LA Times: Synagogue shooting in North Hollywood leaves 2 wounded By Times staff writers | 7:56 a.m. Two men, shot in the lower torso as they were about to enter the temple, are taken to a nearby hospital. Police are treating the shooting as a hate crime. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/10/shooting-at-la-synagogue-investigated-as-hate-crime-man-arrested.html

I posted this last year but it is worth posting again. Via the Washington Post’s On Faith: Lamentations: 9/11 I live in New York City. Two friends, including someone at whose wedding I had recently been the rabbi died in the World Trade Center. The acrid smell came through my apartment windows for days and sacred ashes, which I wiped away with tears, fell on my window sills for weeks. My children who were 13 and 10 at the time were cut off from me and my wife as they could not get home from...

Isaac T. Wood and Larry J. Sabato: RED DAWN: GOP REVIVAL FOR 2010 HOUSE? Republicans will pick up substantially, but fall short of full control While the next slate of House elections does not occur until 2010, congressmen and their challengers certainly don’t take off the “off-year.” Instead, this year is a crucial one for the parties who must prove their recruiting chops, for the incumbents who seek big fundraising numbers and positive headlines, and for the challengers who have...

Larry J. Sabato: WHO’S ON FIRST? Does the Ballot Order of Candidates Make a Difference? (Ten Principles That Answer the Question) Every year, about this time, I hear from people who have watched their state set the order of candidate appearance on the fall ballot. Some states put candidates in chronological order of their official filing with the elections board, while others choose candidates or parties by lot. In fact, the smorgasbord of ways each state arranges candidates is staggering,...

Alan I. Abramowitz: A Note on the Sotomayor Confirmation Vote – Explaining the Votes of Republican Senators. Like almost everything else in Congress, Senate votes on Supreme Court nominations have become much more polarized along party lines in recent years. That was certainly true of the recent vote on President Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor. While all 59 Democrats who were present voted to confirm Sotomayor, 31 of 40 Republicans voted against confirmation. MORE: