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I'll start: How is a marriage like a deck of cards? You start out with two hearts and a diamond, but after awhile you're looking for a club and a spade. (rimshot!)

NEW YORK (AP) -- It was only a few nights after the Occupy protesters began sleeping in his church sanctuary when the Rev. Bob Brashear realized that his laptop was missing. The refugees from Manhattan's Zuccotti Park had found their way to his cavernous Presbyterian church on a cold winter evening, hoping to stay for a few nights, maybe longer. It was the latest stopover for the nomadic group, which has been living in a rotating series of churches since the city shut down its camp in November. "There was a sense of shock and sadness that it had happened,"...

Sarah Palin’s husband is endorsing Newt Gingrich for president, Todd Palin told ABC News today. But Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and John McCain’s 2008 Republican running mate, has yet to decide “who is best able to go up against Barack Obama,” Todd Palin said. Palin said he has not spoken to Gingrich or anyone from the former House speaker’s campaign. But he said he respects Gingrich for what he went through in the 1990s and compared that scrutiny in public life to what Sarah Palin went through during her run for the vice presidency.

In a campaign speech late Tuesday night, Governor Rick Perry stated that he is "returning to Texas" to reassess whether he is going to continue running for President. The speech contained several emotional moments, in particular two moments. The first was when he read a letter from an adoring supporter who called him a "great man." The letter described a conversation that Mr. Perry had had with a soldier and how his supporter looked on in awe as he watched Governor Perry call the veteran his "Christian brother." The second was when Perry announced that he would be returning to...

Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, appears doomed to a fifth-place finish in Iowa. Unless he drops out, that would make South Carolina his last stand against Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney. The problem is that he might not receive an invitation to an upcoming South Carolina debate (given the debate criteria). Candidates can qualify to participate in the CNN/Southern Republican Leadership Conference debate January 19th (two days before the South Carolina primary) in one of four ways. First and second, they can place in the top four in either Iowa or New Hampshire. Third and fourth, they can qualify by averaging seven...

Children who have a poor emotional relationship with their mother are more than twice as likely to become obese, research claims. A study found toddlers who struggle with their mothers are at higher risk of being grossly overweight by the time they are 15. Those who had the worst emotional relationship were almost two-and-half times more likely to be obese at 15 than those with a strong bond. Meanwhile, only 13 per cent who had close bonds in their formative years became obese. U.S. researchers studied nearly 1,000 toddlers and their mothers at play then rated how strong the bond...

WASHINGTON — Who is paying for the two-month extension of the payroll tax cut working its way through Congress? The cost is being dropped in the laps of most people who buy homes or refinance beginning next year. The typical person who buys a $200,000 home or refinances that amount starting on Jan. 1 would have to pay roughly $17 more a month for their mortgage, thanks to a fee increase included in the payroll tax cut bill that the Senate passed Saturday. The White House said the fee increases would be phased in gradually. The legislation provides a two-month...

[b]David Cameron has said the UK is a Christian country "and we should not be afraid to say so".[/b] In a speech in Oxford on the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, the prime minister called for a revival of traditional Christian values to counter Britain's "moral collapse". He said "live and let live" had too often become "do what you please". The PM said it was wrong to suggest that standing up for Christianity was "somehow doing down other faiths". Describing himself as a "committed" but only "vaguely practising" Christian, the PM admitted he was "full of doubts"...

When Hillary Clinton was on the campaign trail in 2008 and spoke at Scranton High School, the line to get tickets a few days before her appearance stretched about 1,000 people long. Monday's line to grab the available free tickets to President Barack Obama's speech Wednesday was noticeably shorter — about 225 people were waiting when the doors opened for the distribution. "It's a little disappointing to see that," said Cathy Kneeland, 64, of Scranton, who showed up more than three hours early to stand in line and found herself second. "You would think more people would want to see...

Imagine this scenario: The polished businessman with the smooth and steady hand and the self-starter that appeals to the enthusiastic tea party contingent. Endorsement or no endorsement, move over, Chris Christie. Make room for a Romney–Cain ticket. On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” MSNBC contributor and former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele predicted a Romney partnership with Herman Cain, the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO. “I think what you’re looking at down the road is a Romney–Cain ticket — the merging of Wall Street and Main Street coming together to go up against Obama and Biden and to talk...

Political fortunes can turn on a dime and for many reasons. At this point four years ago the nominees were obviously going to be Giuliani and Hillary and McCain was going to drop out at any second. Time disproved these assumptions. For a time, the race has seemed to alternate between Romney and some upstart. Each time, the upstart would peak for a couple weeks and crash back down to reality, only to be replaced by another a little later. The one constant has always been Romney. This consistency to stay near at top has given people the mistaken belief...

By Kenneth R. Harney October 2, 2011 Reporting from Washington— Negative equity and underwater homeowners are frequently in the headlines, but what about positive equity in Americans' homes? Is there much of it left after the wealth-killing recession and real estate bust? Where is it? Who's got equity? You might be surprised. A new study, conducted by mortgage and real estate data firm CoreLogic for this column, found that there are substantial reserves of positive equity across the country. CoreLogic maintains the largest database on home loans — 42 million active accounts, more than 80% of all existing mortgages —...

Foreclosure activity was up in August and 22.5% of mortgage borrowers were in negative equity (i.e. owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth) in the second quarter. So, when the National Association of Realtors, reported that existing home sales surged 7.7% in August to 5.03 million annualized sales, it came as a huge relief. Historically this number may be anemic, but in the current market, this was great news. So, we put together the 10 metros with the biggest gains in existing home sales and the median price of homes. Note: All data is for existing single-family...

39% Approve, 54% Disapprove

A beautiful Brazilian soap star has the lead role in her own daytime drama, which casts George Soros, the billionaire financier of lefty causes, as a heavy who not only broke her heart, but also reneged on a promise to give her an Upper East Side apartment worth $1.9 million. The drama will be staged in Manhattan Supreme Court, where 28-year-old Adriana Ferreyr yesterday filed a blockbuster $50 million suit charging, among other things, that the frisky octogenarian slapped her around while they were in bed discussing his real-estate betrayal. The sultry actress and the mogul, who's worth some $14.5...

Conventional wisdom holds that the congressional supercommittee established by the debt-ceiling deal to propose further deficit reduction will go nowhere. I'm not so sure. There is a grand compromise to be had. It does, however, require precise sequencing. To succeed it must proceed in three stages: (1) Tax Reform True tax reform that removes loopholes while lowering tax rates is the Holy Grail of social policy. It appeals equally to left and right because, almost uniquely, it promotes both economic efficiency and fairness: Economic efficiency — because it removes tax dodges that distort capital flows (and thereby diminish productivity) while...

Disgraced Democrat Anthony Weiner dramatically resigned today after weeks of mounting pressure in the wake of a humiliating sexting scandal. Speaking from the same building where he launched his political career almost 20 years ago, he apologised to his wife, party and his staff for the wave of scandal and shame he has brought upon them. His resignation comes after immense pressure from Democrats and the President to quit in order to save the party, not to mention his own family, further embarrassment. He made the decision after having 'long discussions' with his pregnant wife, Huma Abedin, who arrived back...

Sheikh Qabbani tells visiting Palestinian delegation for refugees, “We’ve hosted you and no longer want you... You will never be victorious." The mufti of Lebanon, Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani, was quoted this week as saying that Palestinians are no longer welcome in his country. He also condemned Palestinians as “trash” and said that he’s not afraid of their weapons. Sheikh Qabbani’s remarks were made during a meeting he held in his office in Beirut with a Palestinian delegation representing refugees and various Palestinian factions in Lebanon. The furious mufti later kicked the Palestinian representatives out of his office. More than...

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Anthony Watts Image: Sierra Club CompassSaturday, 28 May 2011 16:58 Agence France-Presse DEAUVILLE, France: Russia, Japan and Canada told the G8 they would not join a second round of carbon cuts under the Kyoto Protocol at United Nations talks this year and the US reiterated it would remain outside the treaty, European diplomats have said.The future of the Kyoto Protocol has become central to efforts to negotiate reductions of carbon emissions under the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change, whose annual meeting will take place in Durban, South Africa, from November 28 to December...

After joyously toppling a dictator, protesters trusted the army to hold power until elections—but a vicious show of force this week has soured their faith. Ursula Lindsey reports from Cairo. The warm relations between Egyptians protesters and their army are over. Military police and, reportedly, masked special forces violently broke up protests in downtown Cairo late Friday night. The attack—and ongoing reports of "disappearances" and abuse—has soured the once hopeful relations between the military and pro-democracy forces here. The film director Ahmad Abdalla was in a group of several hundred protesters standing and chanting in front of the Egyptian parliament...