Burris puts Senate Dems in tough spot  —  The defiant move by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to name a Senate successor to Barack Obama has triggered a political and legal mess that could drag on for months and is already prompting uncomfortable racial questions for Democrats.

Two senior Hamas terrorists killed in IAF strike  —  Senior Hamas terrorist Hussam Hamdan, who was in charge of Grad-type rocket launches into Beersheba and Ofakim, was killed in an IAF strike on Khan Yunis on Sunday afternoon.  —  Another senior Hamas terrorist, Muhammad Hilo, was also killed in the same airstrike.

Charity homes built by Hollywood start to crumble  —  RESIDENTS of a model housing estate bankrolled by Hollywood celebrities and hand-built by Jimmy Carter, the former US president, are complaining that it is falling apart.  —  Fairway Oaks was built on northern Florida wasteland by 10,000 volunteers …

Richardson to withdraw as Commerce secretary  —  New Mexico governor cites pending investigation of business dealings  —  New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, tapped in December by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as secretary of Commerce, has withdrawn his name for the position …

The End of the Financial World as We Know It  —  AMERICANS enter the New Year in a strange new role: financial lunatics.  We've been viewed by the wider world with mistrust and suspicion on other matters, but on the subject of money even our harshest critics have been inclined to believe that we knew what we were doing.

Orwell, blinding tribalism, selective Terrorism, and Israel/Gaza  —  (updated below)  —  Former McCain-Palin campaign spokesman and current Weekly Standard editor Michael Goldfarb notes that Israel, a couple of days ago, dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on a Gazan home which killed a top Hamas leader …

SURVEILLANCE STATE RUN AMOK.... In July, the Washington Post reported on undercover Maryland State Police officers conducting surveillance on war protesters and death penalty opponents.  Today, we learn that the monitoring was worse, and more pervasive, than first believed.

He should get tough with Israel.  —  In Search of the High Ground: In July, Obama got a bird's-eye view of the Holy Land with Livni (right) and Defense Minister Ehud Barak  —  From the magazine issue dated Jan 12, 2009  —  Jews worry for a living; their tragic history compels them to do so.

Fears over earthquake ‘swarm’ at Yellowstone National Park  —  Hundreds of earthquakes have hit Yellowstone National Park, raising fears of a more powerful volcanic eruption.  —  The earthquake swarm, the biggest in more than 20 years, is being closely monitored by scientists and emergency authorities.

Day 9 of the War, Sunday, January 4, 2009  —  Day 9 of the Gaza war, Sunday, January 4, 2009 — Daily sticky post, constantly updated.  —  More liveblogging at IsraellyCool and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/muqata Keyword #GazaWar  —  (photo from Reuters)  —  Additional New posts from today can be found below this post.

George H. W. Bush: I'd like to see Jeb elected president.»  —  This morning on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace asked former President George H.W. Bush about the possibility of his son, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, running for Senate.  The former president expressed his hope …

The Bailout Bowl: Big-Game Sponsors Scored Billions  —  Financial Firms That Got Government Aid Draw Fire for Spending Millions on Marketing; ‘A Fantastic Investment’  —  Football fans watching this year's college bowl games may have noticed that some of the biggest sponsors were also recipients …

A President Forgotten but Not Gone  —  WE like our failed presidents to be Shakespearean, or at least large enough to inspire Oscar-worthy performances from magnificent tragedians like Frank Langella.  So here, too, George W. Bush has let us down.  Even the banality of evil is too grandiose a concept for 43.

Violence is the Tool of the Incompetent  —  The apartheid wall in East Jerusalem, Nov 2006  —  My denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), has long-standing ties with Lutherans in the Middle East that have focused mainly on education (building schools) and both short-term …