We are all trying to decipher last week’s State of the Union. We are a nation, it seems, where the enemy lives and thrives among us. Something must be done. But what?According to the 2006 SOTU, one of these enemies from within is the vibrant national movement for American isolationism, a movement that dominates both political parties at the grass roots -Karen Kwiatkowski/LewRockwell.com

The Palestinian Authority’s senior law officer announced on Sunday that a number of senior Palestinian officials had fled abroad to escape prosecution in a series of corruption cases in which more than $700m had been squandered or stolen.“There are 50 cases of financial and administrative corruption,” Ahmed al-Moghani, PA attorney-general, told a press conference. He said 25 unnamed officials had been arrested and the PA was seeking the extradition of 10 others who had fled -Financial Times UK

The new headquarters of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the District is at least $19 million over budget at a time when the agency is considering sharp cuts in the number of new cars, bulletproof vests and other basics it provides agents.The Justice Department inspector general's office recently received a complaint alleging that ATF Director Carl J. Truscott put through or proposed unnecessary plan changes and upgrades to the 438,000-square-foot building in the past two years, according to four sources familiar with the project -Washington Post

Phil's(Hart) bill is brilliant and something the IRS fears: a real definition of taxation as it relates to the Sixteenth Amendment. If it gets passed in the State of Idaho it will be a major victory and, I believe, start an avalanche in other states because the people will demand it. Getting Phil's bill passed won't be easy -Devvy Kidd/NewsWithViews

A diplomatic row between the United States and Venezuela escalated this past week when President Hugo Chávez expelled a US naval attaché for espionage, prompting Washington to order the Venezuelan ambassador's chief of staff to leave the US.Beyond the heated rhetoric on both sides, one of the actions the Chávez government views as most theatening is the US government's funding and support of opposition groups that Chávez charges hope to overthrow his government -Jens Erik Gould/Christian Science Monitor

The National Security Agency has secured the cooperation of large telecommunications companies, including AT&T, MCI and Sprint, in its efforts to eavesdrop without warrants on international calls by suspected terrorists, according to seven telecommunications executives.The executives asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the program. AT&T, MCI and Sprint had no official comment -USA Today

The step beyond reading thoughts is to attempt to control them directly. A new technique - transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) - has begun to generate interest. This focuses an intense magnetic field on specific brain regions, and has been shown to affect thoughts, perceptions and behavior.-The Observer