Cursor's Media Patrol - 01/13/06

A legislative over-ride in Maryland produced a 'Setback For Wal-Mart,' which "hosted a fundraising reception on behalf of the Governor on December 15, 2004, just months before he vetoed the health care bill."

Robert Dreyfuss raises the possibility that the November 2006 elections "might take place in the midst of yet another crisis manufactured by the Bush administration," as Secretary of State Rice speaks of a "menu of possibilities" that may await Iran at the U.N., promising to draw from the "variety of tools at the disposal of the international community ... at a time of our choosing."

A Guardian op-ed argues that "If the Middle East was a jungle before" the U.S. invasion of Iraq, "it will be a wilder one afterwards ... even more anti-American," and 'Iran and Israel will be kings.'

Rounding up evidence that 'Bush Authorized Domestic Spying Before 9/11,' Jason Leopold finds that the NSA "kept a running list of the names of Americans." And as the Baltimore Sun follows Raw Story's scoop, Sen. Dianne Feinstein has some questions for the Pentagon about its database on war critics.