Ted Koppel, God, global warming and a one-term presidency: News of the week

The Leonids meteor shower captured by photographer Jeff Sullivan

It's Friday. All day. Before you split for the weekend, catch up on your most shared stories from the week, a mix of the most popular content on Twitter and Facebook. We've taken the liberty of choosing a nice mix of stories you might have missed in your quest for the weekend. If you're feeling saucy, sum up the week's news in a tweet by using #wpweek in your reply -- we'll retweet and #FollowFriday the best of you.

• Ted Koppel's latest missive examines the current state of politicized television journalism. Keith Olbermann, Bill O'Reilly, Rachel Maddow and others rake in money for their respective networks, but at what cost? Koppel writes:

  There is, after all, not much of a chance that 21st-century journalism will be adapted to conform with the old rules. Technology and the market are offering a tantalizing array of channels, each designed to fill a particular niche - sports, weather, cooking, religion - and an infinite variety of news, prepared and seasoned to reflect our taste, just the way we like it. As someone used to say in a bygone era, "That's the way it is."

• While we're on the subject, another MSNBC corespondent received a two-day suspension for donating to political campaigns Friday. MSNBC announced Joe Scarborough would be suspended for two days.


• Scientists have discovered the birth of a "baby black hole." So cute. And to think, just 30 years ago it was a star imploding 50 million light-years away.


• Rep.-elect Allen West (R-Fla.) defends his decision to hire a Florida radio personality as his chief of staff. The staffer, Joyce Kaufman, resigned last week to avoid an "electronic lynching" after her previous comments on illegal immigrants came under heavy fire.


• Should Obama bow out after one term? This opinion piece by Douglas E. Schoen and Patrick H. Caddell suggests that Obama should focus on America's problems over the short term rather than spend the next two years preparing for a 2012 election.


• "Don't touch my junk." Taking great advantage of a catchy headline, columnist Charles Krauthammer writes about TSA's new pat-down guidelines, but that's not all.
  

  Don't touch my junk is the anthem of the modern man, the Tea Party patriot, the late-life libertarian, the midterm election voter.

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YOUR TAKE: Got more for us? Reply to @washingtonpost using #wpweek. We'll announce the winner Monday morning at noon. Happy weekend!