As the temperature starts to drop, it may be comforting to know that hot chocolate could be more American than apple pie.

Good morning.

We've already done these posts:

-- Report: Cain To Endorse Gingrich.

-- All Eyes On 'Merkozy' As Leaders Try To Save Euro.

While The New York Times says German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are working on a deal to save the euro that has "several moving parts," The Financial Times cautions that "officials on both sides have cautioned against expectations of an announcement of a detailed plan by the two."

More than a month before college football's title game between LSU and Alabama, they've already had the first play, featuring a head-fake by Alabama. Louisiana State sells merchandise online, in the school colors, purple and gold. But Sunday night someone hacked the site so that for a few hours, it displayed jerseys and other accessories in crimson and white — the colors of the Alabama's Crimson Tide.

Update at 12:35 p.m. ET. Not Today:

Newt Gingrich's campaign just told Reuters that there are no plans for former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain to endorse his fellow Georgian's quest for the Republican nomination today — which, of course, does not rule out it happening at another time.

Our original post and an earlier update:

Some fans of luxury sports cars in Japan took their pricey babies out Sunday — a fantastic fleet of eight Ferraris, two Mercedes and one Lamborghini. The road was wet, the cars were fast — one Ferrari pulled out to pass, skidded into a barrier and spun out. The result was a costly pileup.

Though Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia party lost dozens of seats in Russia's parliament in elections held Sunday, and may have had to resort to fraud to keep from losing even more, he's "still sure to win" election as president next March, Masha Lipman, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said on Morning Edition today.

As a boy in a tiny village in Mexico, I loved climbing up to the roof of my family's small home so I could study the stars and dream of becoming an astronaut. Then I discovered Kaliman, a comic-book hero who could unravel any mystery with his powers of telepathy, philosophy and scientific ability. He was fond of saying, "He who masters the mind, masters everything."