The Finite World  —  Oil is back above $90 a barrel.  Copper and cotton have hit record highs.  Wheat and corn prices are way up.  Over all, world commodity prices have risen by a quarter in the past six months.  —  So what's the meaning of this surge?  —  Is it speculation run amok?

President Obama is USA's most-admired man  —  WASHINGTON — His party may have suffered a shellacking in November's elections, but President Obama remains the unchallenged champion on another front: For the third year in a row, he is by far the most admired man in America.

Miller says he'll keep fighting for Senate seat  —  CHALLENGE: But GOP candidate won't oppose Murkowksi certification.  —  Anchorage Daily News / adn.com  —  Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller announced late Sunday that he would continue his challenge in federal court of the write …

Bailed-Out Banks Slip Toward Failure  —  Number of Shaky Lenders Rises to 98 as Bad Loans Pile Up; Smaller Institutions Hit Hardest  —  Nearly 100 U.S. banks that got bailout funds from the federal government show signs they are in jeopardy of failing.  —  The total, based on an analysis …

In ‘Daily Show’ Role on 9/11 Bill, Echoes of Murrow  —  Did the bill pledging federal funds for the health care of 9/11 responders become law in the waning hours of the 111th Congress only because a comedian took it up as a personal cause?  —  And does that make that comedian, Jon Stewart …

The Economy in 2011  —  After the passage of the tax cut deal, many economic forecasters raised their projections for 2011.  Recent economic indicators, including a reduction in weekly initial unemployment claims, an increase in industrial production, factory orders and consumer sentiment …

CNN Poll: Controversial health care provision unpopular  —  Washington (CNN) - As a crucial component of the nation's new health care law requiring all Americans to buy insurance faces an uncertain fate in federal courts, a new national poll indicates that a majority of Americans oppose …

The Trouble With Liberty  —  Libertarians, of both left and right, haven't been this close to power since 1776.  But do we want to live in their world?  —  Just before Thanksgiving, in an impassioned speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, Ron Paul called for Congress to be groped.

‘Lame ducks can still fly,’ Daniels says of his last 2 years  —  Lame duck?  Hardly.  —  With only two years left as governor, Gov. Mitch Daniels feels more charged up than ever.  —  The November election gave him solid Republican majorities in both the Senate and House …

BROKAW: 'WE'LL SEE' IF OBAMA CAN LEARN ON THE JOB — HE DIDN'T HAVE HARD POLITICAL EXPERIENCE AS A GOV LIKE REAGAN DID  —  CATB  —  LOL .. all we heard was how Palin wasn't qualified .. she is much more qualified than “their” Obama!  —  Report Post »  —  Log in to Reply  —  TXPILOT

Meet the New Batman: An Algerian Muslim Who Saves France from Nazis and Communists  —  Reality isn't always very fun.  Because of that many people turn to comic books for a little escapism.  But there's escapism and PC indoctrination.  Sadly, it appears that DC Comics' Batman is angling for the latter and not the former.

Napolitano: No plans to alter airport pat-downs  —  Aggressive airport security pat-down procedures instituted earlier this year won't be changing anytime soon, according to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.  —  When asked on CNN's “State of the Union” about the prospect of altering …

New Science Committee Chair Ralph Hall Praises ‘Tremendous’ BP Spill  —  Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX) plans to pursue an aggressive pro-oil agenda as the incoming chair of the House Science and Technology Committee.  In an interview with the Dallas Morning News this month, the …

Morocco arrests 6 suspected in terrorism cell  —  PARIS — Morocco's Interior Ministry says six people with expertise on explosives have been arrested on suspicion that they were preparing car bomb attacks on foreign and domestic targets.  —  The ministry says in a statement Monday that the six …

Under fire, Barbour defends state jet  —  The Mississippi state plane, a zippy Cessna Citation with a capacity of 12, is a favorite of corporate executives and the wealthy, and its principal passenger, Gov. Haley Barbour, might easily be mistaken for one of them when he arrives with a small entourage …

THE JOBS CRISIS  —  The recession has been over for more than a year now, but so many people are out of work that it doesn't feel like much of a recovery.  In November, the economy added just thirty-nine thousand jobs.  The failure to translate G.D.P. growth into job growth has given us …

America's Dangerous Rush to Shrink Its Military Power  —  Just as in the 1930s, the economy is the supposedly humanitarian excuse for reducing the military—although the endless miseries of the world will not be alleviated if, due to an imbalance of power, great and little wars rage across it.

Subnational Government Debt Loans in China  —  Sometimes it's a bit hard to say what's happening in China (my photo, available under cc license)  —  Via Tyler Cowen, an anonymous “senior” Japanese official says: … Certainly something missed in many admiring columns about the quality …

Somali Islamist insurgents threaten US attack  —  MOGADISHU, Somalia — A leader of Somalia's Islamist insurgency threatened to attack America during a speech broadcast Monday.  —  “We tell the American President Barack Obama to embrace Islam before we come to his country,” said Fuad Mohamed “Shongole” Qalaf.

Obama extends Kwanzaa greetings  —  President Obama and the first lady sent out Kwanzaa greetings Sunday on the first day of the seven-day celebration.  —  “Michelle and I extend our warmest thoughts and wishes to all those who are celebrating Kwanzaa this holiday season,” Obama said in a statement.