Serious Questions about the Obama Administration's Incompetence in the Wikileaks Fiasco  —  We all applaud the successful thwarting of the Christmas-Tree Bomber and hope our government continues to do all it can to keep us safe.  However, the latest round of publications …

Obama Freezes Pay for Federal Workers  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama announced a two-year pay freeze for civilian federal workers on Monday as he sought to address concerns over sky-high deficit spending and appeal to Republican leaders to find a common approach to restoring the nation's economic and fiscal health.

Liberal groups blast Obama pay-freeze proposal, release alternative plan  —  Representatives of three liberal advocacy groups on Monday blasted President Obama's proposed two-year freeze on federal civilian worker pay.  —  John Irons of the Economic Policy Institute, Tamara Draut of Demos …

PRECEDENT AND PROLOGUE  —  Momentous Supreme Court cases tend to move quickly into the slipstream of the Court's history.  In the first ten years after Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 decision that ended the doctrine of separate but equal in public education, the Justices cited the case more than twenty-five times.

The Spanish Prisoner  —  The best thing about the Irish right now is that there are so few of them.  By itself, Ireland can't do all that much damage to Europe's prospects.  The same can be said of Greece and of Portugal, which is widely regarded as the next potential domino.  —  But then there's Spain.

Blasts target Iranian nuclear scientists  —  One professor dies, another is injured on their morning commutes.  The attacks prompt a stern warning by the head of IranÂ's atomic energy agency.  —  Reporting from Beirut — Two separate explosions killed a nuclear scientist and injured another …

Democrats warm to tax-cut compromise  —  A faction of congressional Democrats is making a push to persuade President Obama to consider a compromise on tax policy that would leave only the nation's 315,000 richest households facing higher taxes in January.  —  Over the past few days …

‘The criminalization of politics’  —  THERE IS LITTLE DOUBT that former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) schemed to get around a Texas law prohibiting corporate contributions to political campaigns.  Mr. DeLay's state political action committee accepted $190,000 in (legal) corporate contributions.

WikiLeaked: John Kerry calls for Israel to cede Golan Heights and East Jerusalem  —  On a February trip to the Middle East, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry (D-MA) told Qatari leaders that the Golan Heights should be returned to Syria, that a Palestinian capital …

APNewsBreak: NJ must pay $271M for killing tunnel  —  TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey owes the federal government more than $271 million after canceling a rail tunnel connecting the state with New York, according to a debt notice obtained Monday by The Associated Press.

Most Continue to Favor Gays Serving Openly in Military  —  As the Pentagon prepares to release its highly anticipated survey of military personnel about the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy, most Americans (58%) say they favor allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the armed forces.

What happens when Medicare controls costs too well  —  There's one school of thought that says Congress is incapable of controlling costs in Medicare, and then there's, well, this: … One of the dirty little secrets of the health-care system is that Medicare has done a much better job controlling costs …

Picasso's electrician reveals artist's ‘treasure trove’  —  The works include a portrait of the late artist's first wife, Olga  —  A retired electrician in southern France who worked for Pablo Picasso says he has hundreds of previously unknown works by the artist.

House Vote On Middle-Income Tax Cuts Likely This Week  —  House Democrats are likely to hold a vote later this week on a tax plan that would allow the Bush tax cuts for high-income earners to expire at the end of the year, according to multiple aides.  —  Nothing's final, and the timing could change, as it often does.

John Kampfner: Wikileaks shows up our media for their docility at the feet of authority  —  Mr Assange is an unconventional figure, a man who lives in the shadows and enjoys doing so  —  You should never shout “fire” in a crowded theatre.  Once you have accepted this old adage, you accept that there are limits to free expression.

Source: GOP tries blocking George Soros' ballot  —  George Soros, a man who's spent a few million dollars promoting progressive causes, may not get his vote counted in a local race in New York.  —  In the November 2 elections, George Soros mailed in an absentee ballot.

11/29: Voters Want Compromise Across the Aisle, But Doubt It Will Happen  —  Now that Republicans have won control of the U.S. House of Representatives, more than seven in ten registered voters in the U.S. — 72% — think Republicans should work with Democrats and President Barack Obama …

American exceptionalism: an old idea and a new political battle  —  Is this a great country or what?  —  “American exceptionalism” is a phrase that, until recently, was rarely heard outside the confines of think tanks, opinion journals and university history departments.