• build local membership,
• recruit candidates as broadly as possible, so we can challenge the Dems everywhere,
• pressure Democrats steadily on both policy and personnel,
• identify winnable races,
• pick up on new shifts in the political winds (memes that can catch on, new winning issues that can attract at least part-time allies into the coalition, and even demographic changes), and
• develop new policy ideas (we already have formidable institutions in place for this).

• alert non-local Republicans to unexpected vulnerabilities that can be exploited with wider attention and more resources,
• score points against Democrat personnel whenever the opportunity arises (start building the rap sheets now in those blue states, because these victories are cumulative and mutually reinforcing),
• win if possible, but
• always be shifting the Overton window toward the Right's ideas and policies, staying somewhat to the Right of even the candidates themselves.  (Candidates, in turn, need to learn to tolerate this pressure, and take advantage of the blazed path when the opposition weakens on an issue.)

On June 18, 1912, Congress passed a law entitled,

An Act to provide for the support and maintenance of bastards in the District of Columbia.

Rapid growth spurt leaves amount of ice at levels seen 29 years ago.

Thanks to a rapid rebound in recent months, global sea ice levels now equal those seen 29 years ago, when the year 1979 also drew to a close.

Ice levels had been tracking lower throughout much of 2008, but rapidly recovered in the last quarter. In fact, the rate of increase from September onward is the fastest rate of change on record, either upwards or downwards.

Earlier this year, predictions were rife that the North Pole could melt entirely in 2008. Instead, the Arctic ice saw a substantial recovery. Bill Chapman, a researcher with the UIUC's Arctic Center, tells DailyTech this was due in part to colder temperatures in the region.

In May, concerns over disappearing sea ice led the U.S. to officially list the polar bear a threatened species, over objections from experts who claimed the animal's numbers were increasing.

Author and Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago and domestic terrorist.

... smart, honest, compassionate and courageous, and perhaps most striking, she actually knows schools and classrooms, curriculum and teaching, kids and child development.

So I would have picked Darling-Hammond, but then again I would have picked Noam Chomsky for state, Naomi Klein for defense, Bernardine Dohrn for Attorney General, Bill Fletcher for commerce, James Thindwa for labor, Barbara Ransby for human services, Paul Krugman for treasury, and Amy Goodman for press secretary. So what do I know?

Darling-Hammond would not have been a smart pick for Obama. She was steadily demonized in a concerted campaign to undermine her effectiveness, and she would surely have had great difficulty getting any traction whatsoever for progressive policy change in this environment.

Stanford University professor Linda Darling-Hammond, who was named to Obama's education transition team, is one of the most-mentioned candidates. As a severe critic of the No Child Left Behind Act and an opponent of merit pay for teachers, she is favored by teachers unions.

Israel's attempt to wipe out Hamas is understandable, but stupid. No country in the world is going to ignore the provocation of rockets being launched from neighbouring territory day after day. If Mexico had a group of anti-imperialists bombing Texas, imagine how long it would take for America to mobilise a counterattack. Israel has every right to respond.

But the kind of response matters. Killing 500 Palestinians and wounding 2,000 others (at the time of writing) is disproportionate. Hamas can harass, but it cannot pose any threat to the existence of Israel. And just as Hamas's indiscriminate bombing of population centres is a crime against humanity, so is Israel's killing of civilians (at least 130 so far in Gaza, not to mention the thousands in the years of the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza).

Then there's the belief that the Hamas rockets are some kind of homemade, harmless Dad's Army effort which could and should be ignored.

But the only reason more Israelis haven't been killed by them is that in the south, the population has been all but living in bomb shelters. And there is nothing 'homemade' about the Russian-designed Katyushas and Iranian Grad rockets now putting around one-tenth of Israel's population within their range.

The UN has confirmed that the vast majority (75 per cent) of the dead in Gaza have been Hamas terrorists. Given the huge number of bombing sorties that have been conducted, this proves that the Israelis are specifically targeting the Hamas infrastructure.

Alas, the civilian death toll will unavoidably mount, which is deeply regrettable.

But what must be understood is that Hamas have deliberately situated their weapons under apartment blocks, in mosques and in hospitals.

The Israelis build bomb shelters for their civilians; Hamas stores bombs underneath its civilians in order to create as many civilian casualties as possible to manipulate world opinion.

What people find so hard to grasp is that Hamas actually wants to maximise the number of Palestinians who are killed because, as they boast: 'We desire death as you desire life.'

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, citing a pending investigation into a company that has done business with his state.

"Let me say unequivocally that I and my Administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact," he said Sunday in a report by NBC News' Andrea Mitchell. "But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process."

A federal grand jury is investigating how a California company that contributed to Richardson's political activities won a lucrative New Mexico state contract.

[W]ho would have imagined that less than two decades later we would be back to building walls? I have no doubt that the Separation Wall in the Holy Land will one day fall for the same reasons. The only question is how many lives, how many shattered and demolished villages, how much dehumanization and stigmatization will we tolerate?

This Wall is not a sign of justice or peace, it is a material sign of the walls of hatred that are growing stronger everyday. This wall does not provide security, it breeds despair and a culture of separation. And it cannot contain the hatred and resentment that are building every day.

A week ago, Bishop Younan and a dozen of his ecumenical partners in Jerusalem called for Sunday, January 4, 2009 to be "a day for justice and peace in the land of peace." If that were to happen, it would be a miracle.

Israeli ground troops have begun moving into Gaza, according to Israel Defense Forces.

"The objective is to destroy the Hamas terror infrastructure in the area of operations," said Israel Defense Forces Major Avital Leibovitch, a military spokeswoman, confirming that incursions were under way. "We are going to take some of the launch areas used by Hamas."

The IDF Spokesperson's office issued a statement, emphasizing that this stage of the operation will further the goals of the eight-day offensive as voiced by the IDF until now: To strike a direct and hard blow against the Hamas while increasing the deterrent strength of the IDF, in order to bring about an improved and more stable security situation for residents of Southern Israel over the long term.

A man who attempted to rob two banks in Aspen, Colo., on New Year's Eve with four homemade gasoline bombs in what he called a "suicide mission" was found dead early Thursday after sparking a manhunt that shut down the city's holiday celebrations.

The man, James Chester Blanning Jr., was found dead early Thursday just east of Aspen in rural Pitkin County, said Asst. Chief Bill Linn of the Aspen Police Department during a news conference held on New Year's Day. Blanning was found in his Jeep Cherokee and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

WE HAVE ALL OF THE COP THREATS TO US UNDER VERY SOPHISTICATED ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE. DO NOT F—- WITH US OR THERE WILL BE MASS DEATH LIKE WE HAVE ALL BEEN PART OF OVER IN THAT F—-ING QUICKSAND TRAP THAT ROVE'S AND CHANEY'S [sic] MONKEY BUSH PUT US INTO WHERE SO MANY OF OUR SOUL MATES AND BROTHERS DIED VERY HORRIBLE DEATHS. . . .

PS - FOR ADDED INSURANCE, THERE IS ALSO A FIFTH FIRE CRACKER HIDDEN IN A HIGH END WATERING HOLE THAT WE WILL REMOVE AFTER WE ARE FULLY CLEAR AND KNOW FOR SURE ALL HAS GONE WELL. F—- THE WHOLE WORLD, ALREADY.

PUT $60,000 IN USED $100s IN THE WHITE BOX. ANY DYES, TRACKERS, OR OTHER BULLS—-T WILL CAUSE DISASTER TO ALL.

According to the Denver Post, Blanning was sentenced in Rio Blanco District Court in 1996 to 16 years in prison for racketeering and a series of white-collar crimes. According to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the crimes included forgery of deeds and wills, fraudulent security sales and forged money, the Post reported.

"It is a fact, there are no African-Americans in the United States Senate," he said. "Is it racism that is taking place? That's a question that someone may raise."

Should Burris appear in Washington without that certification, armed police officers stand ready to bar him from the Senate floor, said a Democratic official briefed on Senate leaders' plans.

A Michigan university has released its 34th annual list of words and phrases ripe for banishment from the English language, including "green" and "maverick."

Lake Superior State University in the city of Sault Ste. Marie said its 34th annual "List of Words to Be Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness" was based on nominations from the public.

"Green" — including variations "going green," "building green," "greening," "green technology" and others — received the most nominations this year, the school said.

Two additional environmentally themed entries, "carbon footprint" and "carbon offsetting," also made the list.

The list included other words bandied about by politicians during 2008, including "maverick," "bailout" and "game changer."

Nominators also lamented the use of "staycation" to mean a vacation that does not involve traveling far from home.

"Occurrences of this word are going up with gas prices. 'Vacation' does not mean 'travel,' nor does travel always involve vacation. Let's send this word on a slow boat to nowhere," said Dan Muldoon of Omaha.

In a strictly military sense, Israel will "win" this battle against Hamas. For all its threats and bravado, Hamas is weak, and its weapons — terrorism, homemade rockets — are the weapons of the weak. Since 2001, Hamas has fired thousands of unguided Kassam rockets at Israel, but the rockets have killed only a handful of Israelis.

The Israeli assault may even strengthen Hamas in the longer run and weaken its more moderate secular rival, Fatah. As Israel should know by now (as we all should know), dropping bombs in densely populated areas is a surefire way to radicalize civilians and get them to rally around the home team, however flawed.

Ironically, it's precisely this psychological phenomenon that Olmert, Barak and Livni are counting on among Israelis, but they seem to assume it doesn't exist among Palestinians. (Or, worse, they're too cynical to care, as long as they profit politically.)

It's time for the United States to wake up from its long slumber and reengage — forcefully — with the Middle East peace process ... In January 2001, the Taba talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority came achingly close to a final settlement, but talks broke down after Likud's Ariel Sharon was elected prime minister on Feb. 6, 2001. Sharon refused to meet with Yasser Arafat, and newly inaugurated President George W. Bush had no interest in pushing Israel toward peace.

Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement [Hamas]. Abusing any part of Palestine is abuse directed against part of religion. Nationalism of the Islamic Resistance Movement [Hamas] is part of its religion. Its members have been fed on that. For the sake of hoisting the banner of Allah over their homeland they fight. (Article 13)

Chait makes a common claim, which is that all analysis of the Israel/Palestinian conflict has to begin from a place of intentionality. "Hamas has a problem with Israel because Hamas believes Israel has no right to exist," he writes. "Israel has a problem with Hamas because Hamas believes Israel has no right to exist. If Hamas lay down all its weapons, Israel would lift its blockade. If Israel lay down all its weapons, Hamas would kill as many Israelis as it could."

There's truth to this. But it can also obscure more than it can reveal. One important disconnect in Israel/Palestine debate is that Israel's supporters tend to focus on what the Palestinians want while Palestine's supporters tend to focus on what the Israelis do. Israel's defenders, for instance, make a lot of Hamas's willingness to kill large numbers of civilians. Palestine's defenders make a lot of the fact that Israel actually kills large numbers of Palestinian civilians.