Jerry Brown urges court to void Prop.  8  —  SAN FRANCISCO — California Attorney General Jerry Brown changed course on the state's new same-sex marriage ban Friday and urged the state Supreme Court to void Proposition 8.  —  In a dramatic reversal, Brown filed a legal brief saying the measure …

We Call on You Lord: Leaked Rick Warren Invocation  —  (NOTE: Copies of what seemed to be a draft of an inaugural invocation by Pastor Rick Warren arrived in the fax machines of several prominent journalists this morning.  This site does not vouch for the authenticity of the draft …

Somebody Needs to Serve a Subpoena on Ole Fourth Branch, in a Hurry  —  Welcome back to another day in [CrazyWorld] CheneyWorld, or as we like to call it, the “Fourth Branch”.  The NYTimes via AP is reporting that Darth Cheney has declared that he, and he alone, has the power to decide which …

Jihadist Group Trying to ‘Invade’ Facebook Gets Shut Down  —  A quickly growing jihadist group that used Facebook to spread its radical message has been shut down by the popular Web networking site after FOXNews.com alerted the company to the group's activities.

Americans Take Parting Shots at Bush  —  It was bad enough for President Bush to have shoes tossed at his head during his farewell journey to Baghdad.  Now comes a new poll in which Americans call Bush all sorts of names — some of them a lot worse than “dog.”

Blair Is Steeped in the Ways Intelligence Works  —  After Dennis Blair's assignment as military liaison to the CIA 13 years ago, he groused about all the cloak-and-dagger politics at Langley headquarters.  “You'd go to a meeting and think everyone had agreed” to a particular course of action …

Tech followups on NYTimes.com blockage in China (updated)  —  On December 19, the NYTimes.com site was apparently blocked all across China.  For the sake of completeness, these followups.  —  1) Could the problem be related to a recent physical break in three of the four main internet cables connecting Asia to North America?

Sequel to Sarah Palin ‘nude painting’: A Rod Blagojevich ‘nude painting’?  —  Bruce Elliott works on a new painting of Governor Rod Blagojevich in his Chicago studio on Thursday, December 18, 2008.  Elliott's wife owns the Old Town Ale House where the painting will hang next to an earlier painting of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Biden: U.S. Economy in Danger of ‘Absolutely Tanking’  —  Vice President-Elect Joe Biden said the U.S. economy is in danger of “absolutely tanking” and will need a second stimulus package in the $600-billion to $700-billion range.  —  “The economy is in much worse shape than we thought it was in …

Conor Cruise O'Brien, Irish Diplomat, Is Dead at 91  —  Conor Cruise O'Brien, an Irish diplomat, politician, man of letters and public intellectual who staked out an independent position for Ireland in the United Nations and, despite his Roman Catholic origins, championed the rights of Protestants in Northern Ireland, died Thursday.

Iraqis Respond To House Of Saddam  —  For some, he was a national hero.  For most, he was a terrifying tyrant.  And for the past two Sundays, HBO gave us an inside look into the life of the brutal dictator Saddam Hussein and his family.  House of Saddam is a four-part miniseries that can best …

GOP slams Bush over bailout  —  Republican leaders across the board have let loose on President Bush's auto industry bailout in what may be some of the toughest GOP criticism of the Bush presidency.  —  John McCain is leading the way, saying it is “unacceptable that we would leave …

Blagojevich: ‘I have done nothing wrong’  —  Governor's attorney challenging lawfulness of court-ordered wiretaps  —  CHICAGO - In an unwavering statement of innocence, Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Friday he will be vindicated of criminal corruption charges and has no intention of letting what he called a …