This sounds like more bad news for House Speaker Dennis Hastert and the Republican party that he seems to be helping drag down in the polls: House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert’s chief of staff confronted then-Rep. Mark Foley about his inappropriate social contact with male pages well before the speaker said aides in his office took any action, a current congressional staff member with personal knowledge of...

The New York Times reports that Google is “in discussions to acquire YouTube for $1.6 billion, people involved in the talks said yesterday.” YouTube has definately become one of the biggest success stories on the Internet the last year, even the last couple of years: YouTube is “has yet to celebrate its first anniversary or its first profit” but already Google is trying to buy the video-sharing...

Due to all the mess with Mark Foley and, more importantly, the existence of some kind of list of ‘gay conservatives (/ Republicans)’ made by ‘liberal gays’, the Anchoress outs herself, as does Roger L. Simon. Therefore, I will join the ‘being honest squad’ myself. I admit: I love Asian women. I do not know why. But I do. I am afraid this makes me a lesbian trapped in a male...

NJ Republican candidate for US Senate, Tom Kean, called on Haster to step down immediately. By doing so, Kean is the first major Republican candidate who publicly attacks Speaker of the House Dennis Haster and, thus, breaks with what seems to be the party-line. To me, it seems that the most important Republicans make a huge mistake by publicly supporting Dennis Hastert. Whether all reports about his supposed...

Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the The Rothenberg Political Report, and a regular columnist for Roll Call Newspaper, now says a Democratic blowout is possible: After looking at the news for the past 10 days or so, I have to wonder how Democrats can possibly fail in their efforts to take both the House and the Senate. The national atmospherics don’t merely favor Democrats; they set the stage for a blowout...

From moderate cartoonist Tom Briscoe:

THIS JUST IN from investigative reporter Andy Borowitz: Jacko Running For Foley’s Seat King of Pop Makes First Foray into Politics In a stunning development that could radically alter the electoral landscape in the upcoming midterm elections, the singer Michael Jackson announced today that he would run for the seat vacated last Friday by former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) Mr. Jackson told reporters that he...

Due to a very heavy schedule here in New Mexico my own posts will be limited today. But keep checking back since our cobloggers may have some things to say. UPDATE: The hotel wireless dial up doesn’t work) is literally disconnecting every three minutes. will try to post tomorrow morning.

More and more companies are concluding that diversity is an important way to boost the bottom line. Taste like morality too!

Denny Hastert denies, dances, and ducks; interesting folks deny Denny. AMERICAblog: GOP Senate candidate in NJ, Tom Kean Jr., calls on Hastert to resign AMERICAblog: George Bush’s favorite GOP journalist, Maggie Gallagher, says Hastert & Reynolds must resign or she’s voting Democrat AMERICAblog: 63% of Americans say Hastert should resign the Speakership or resign Congress AMERICAblog: Chicago...

and the Palestinian people for that matter.

Great Mars Photo from BBC Website: Nasa’s new orbiter at Mars has taken a spectacular picture of the Opportunity rover sitting on a crater’s rim. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrived at the Red Planet in March and has only recently moved into a prime position to begin science investigations. Its view of Victoria Crater will help US space agency researchers decide where to send Opportunity to...

The Sunday Times reports that David Cameron – the newly elected leader of the Tories (well… ‘new’ – last year) – has to provide some clarity. People, by now, know what the Tories, under his leadership, are against but both politicians and voters, are now urging Cameron to make clear what it is he favors (and don’t even get me started about Pelosi’s empty “100...

Female support for “marriage, femininity, gender, fashion, porn, religion, beauty, the nuclear family, pink tool kits, et al”: autonomous choice, or “survival skill”? Update: Bumped to the top because the link was broken until this morning. Sorry dudes and dudettes.

It runs in the family: ABC contributor Michelle Dubert reports: While campaigning for Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) in the Philadelphia suburbs today, former President George H.W. Bush warned of a “ghastly” future for his son and other Americans if “wild Democrats” take over Congress. “I would hate to think what Arlen’s life would be like, what Rick’s life would be like,...

The Washington Post reports: The U.S. economy created far fewer jobs in September than anticipated, but revised job figures for previous months showed a surprisingly substantial uptick over what was previously reported. The national economy created 51,000 jobs in September — analysts had been predicting 120,000 — and the unemployment rate dipped slightly from 4.7 percent to 4.6 percent, according...

Cross-posted to Random Fate. — It has been a while since I have posted anything thoughtful or even remotely original. I wish I could say it was entirely due to changes in my life-circumstances, with my new wife, new children, and new priorities, but I cannot attribute my lack of commentary entirely to other priorities. While they are important, these other priorities have not ruled my life exclusively....

Glavine: The Mets’ ace this post season? As the Mets started confronting life without Pedro Martínez and Orlando Hernández, a 290-game winner lurked in the background. Tom Glavine is not the type to remind people of his pedigree or his impeccable résumé. But he understands the burden placed upon him. He, not Martínez, is now expected to be the big-game pitcher. Glavine pitched like an...

There are a couple of women leading the debate about Islam, integration, a possible clash between civilizations, the treatment of women in Muslim countries, &c. One of those women leading the debate is Ayaan Hirsi Ali. I will publish a review of her book “Mijn Vrijheid” (My Freedom) this weekend. Another one is Dr. Wafa Sultan, a Syrian-American psychologist. She now told Danish TV channel...

File this in the We’ll Be Watching You Department. From that pesky ABC News blog The Blotter: A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources. “It’s time for you to get some new cell phones, quick,” the source told us in an in-person conversation. ABC...