The Decline and Fall of Western Civ for 4 Jan.

She was for bi-partisanship before she was against it.
After reading: wash, rinse and repeat.

• In a day of pomp and change, Rep. Nancy Pelosi became the nation's first female House speaker on Thursday as Democrats eagerly took control of Congress for the final two years of President Bush's term, reports AP.

• North Korea appears to have made preparations for another nuclear test, according to U.S. defense officials.
  
  

  "We think they've put everything in place to conduct a test without any notice or warning," a senior U.S. defense official told ABC News.

• Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman on Thursday dismissed the chief of the country's nuclear weapons program because of security breakdowns at the Los Alamos, N.M., laboratory and other facilities, according to The Associated Press.

• KTUU issued this global warming alert: Record snowfall buries Anchorage!
  
  It snowed all day in Anchorage Wednesday. A combination of snow, fog and ice contributed to more than 100 cars becoming stuck in ditches and snow berms across the city. The Anchorage Police Department said accidents occurred at a pace of a collision every 10 minutes today. A snow advisory remains in effect and the job of digging out is only beginning.

• Variety reports album sales dropped for a seventh consecutive year, but a dramatic increase in the sale of digital tracks helped keep the music industry afloat in 2006.

• The Associated Press reports the number of death sentences handed out in the United States dropped in 2006 to the lowest level since capital punishment was reinstated 30 years ago, reflecting what some experts say is a growing fear that the criminal justice system will make a tragic and irreversible mistake.

Tags: Decline and Fall of Western Civ, Open Thread, Wire, Headlines, United States
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