E. J. Dionne Jr. writes that elections at midterm can be low-interest affairs or immensely important. This fall's congressional elections will be a big show with large consequences, because 2006 is looking a lot like the political years 1958, 1966 and 1978, all of which heralded major political transformations.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010306N.shtml

Senator Joseph Biden Jr., the Delaware Democrat who will be one of those doing the questioning when confirmation hearings begin next week, said recently that Judge Alito's statements about one person one vote could do more to jeopardize his nomination than his statements about Roe v. Wade.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010306K.shtml

While President Bush denies any wrongdoing in the National Security Agency domestic wiretap and data-mining program, saying yesterday that it was perfectly legal, actions by top officials in his own administration suggest Bush and his inner circle of confidants did indeed know the spying was wrong.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010306J.shtml

A decorated Vietnam combat veteran who retired as a colonel after 37 years in the US Marine Corps, Murtha told ABC News's "Nightline" that Iraq "absolutely" was a wrong war for President George W. Bush to have launched.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010306I.shtml

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/3867/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

by Robert B. Reich, TomPaine.com

If we measured average Americans' prosperity, the White House would be singing a different economic tune.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20060103/our_worrisome_mdp.php

The New York Times is reporting that Jack Abramoff will plead guilty to three felony counts in Washington on Wednesday as part of a settlement with federal prosecutors, ending an intense, months-long negotiation over whether the Republican lobbyist would testify against his former colleagues, people involved with the case said.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010306Z.shtml

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/01/03/abramoff.plea


Informant: John Calvert

Civil society

The Free Liberal
by Fred E. Foldvary

01/03/06

Civil society has three elements. First is the commercial element, the spontaneous order of an exchange economy, the market for goods and the factors of production. Second is the benevolent element, charitable donations. Third is voluntary association, the creation and organization of clubs, mutual-aid societies, and families. These elements are not distinct, but intertwine like strings in a fabric. The contrast to civil society is imposed government. Government is non-civil because it uses coercion to accomplish its ends...

http://www.freeliberal.com/archives/001766.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland

01/02/06

Next time you go to the airport be sure to put on a happy face, even if you've been informed that your flight has been delayed by an hour and that you'll miss all your connections. You'll need this cheerful facade to make it through the TSA airport security checkpoint. As if being asked to strip off shoes, coats, belts and other clothing before going through a metal detector and getting your personal belongings x-rayed is not enough, the TSA will begin psychoanalyzing air travelers in 40 major airports next year. TSA screeners, who are not even fully trained law enforcement personnel, let alone professional psychologists, will perform behavior analysis screening on all passengers...

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1644


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp