Big States' Plan for Earlier Primaries Scrambles Race  —  As many as four big states — California, Florida, Illinois and New Jersey — are likely to move up their 2008 presidential primaries to early next February, further upending an already unsettled nominating process and forcing candidates …

Senators-in-Chief  —  Congress has no Constitutional power to micromanage a war.  —  To understand why the Founders put war powers in the hands of the Presidency, look no further than the current spectacle in Congress on Iraq.  What we are witnessing is a Federalist Papers illustration …

Incomes and Inequality: What the Numbers Don't Tell Us  —  The growing inequality in wealth and income has led many people to question whether the contemporary American economy is rigged in favor of the rich.  While there is little doubt that the gap between the wealthy and everybody else …

THE YEAR THAT DARE NOT SPEAK ITS NAME?  —  In China, it's the Year Of The P-P-P-Pig!  —  Yay!  Right?  —  Not in China.  According to this detailed WSJ report, the Chinese government is systematically censoring all mentions of pig and pig images — putting Western advertisers in a mad editing scramble:

Minimum Wage Bill Suffers Setback in Senate  —  WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 — Prospects for an increase in the minimum wage suffered a setback today in the Senate, where a move fell short, at least for now, to raise the minimum by $2.10 an hour without tax breaks for small businesses

Rumsfeld's transition raises questions  —  Former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has left the Pentagon, but not the Defense Department.  —  On Jan. 4, Mr. Rumsfeld opened a government-provided transition office in Arlington and has seven Pentagon-paid staffers working for him, a Pentagon official said.

Hillary in Blogistan: On Blogads, The Netroots and Peter Daou  —  Hillary Clinton did not wait long after her weekend presidential campaign announcement to step foot in the blogosphere: By Monday her technically fledgling but long-assumed campaign had a major step toward engaging web users …

2 election workers convicted of rigging '04 presidential recount  —  CLEVELAND (AP) — Two election workers in the state's most populous county were convicted Wednesday of illegally rigging the 2004 presidential election recount so they could avoid a more thorough review of the votes.

Senate Shows Its Age; Health Problems Pose Challenge For Governing  —  The average age of members of the U.S. Senate is older than it has ever been, according to Senate Historian Richard Baker.  For many senators, advanced age is starting to show, raising questions about their ability to govern.

The Secret War Against Iran  —  Bringing democracy to Iraq has forced the Islamic world to confront the terrorism monster they have created.  Before Saddam was taken down, the Gulf Arabs depended on Saddam, as loathsome as he was, to keep Iran busy.  Since 1979, Shia radicals have been running Iran, and supporting Islamic terrorism.

The Democrats' Rude Rebuff  —  When President Bush called for a bipartisan "special advisory council" of congressional leaders on the war against terrorism in his State of the Union address, he had in his pocket a rude rejection from Democratic leaders.  Thank you very much …

Hillary's Hollywood Friends Switch Sides  —  Steven Spielberg and David Geffen Invite Hundreds of Stars to Their Big Barack Obama Fundraiser  —  Is Hollywood abandoning Hillary?  —  On Wednesday morning, hundreds of Hollywood's movers and shakers received an invitation that they may find hard to refuse.

Of Gay Sheep, Modern Science and the Perils of Bad Publicity  —  Charles Roselli set out to discover what makes some sheep gay.  Then the news media and the blogosphere got hold of the story.  —  Dr. Roselli, a researcher at the Oregon Health and Science University, has searched …

Letters from Anne Frank's father surface  —  WASHINGTON (AFP) - Desperate letters written by the father of Anne Frank, the teenager whose diary of hiding from Nazis documented the horror of Jews during World War II, have surfaced in the United States and will be released next month.

Obama's Appeal to Blacks Remains an Open Question  —  CHICAGO — Looking around at the overwhelmingly white audience that was applauding Sen. Barack Obama's luncheon speech on Iraq at a downtown hotel recently, the Rev. B. Herbert Martin expressed both satisfaction and concern.