Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate leadership, sums up his race for re-election this year with a perverse pride: "The other side of the aisle wants to beat me more than anything you can possibly imagine," he told the Greater Lehigh Valley Auto Dealers Association not long ago.

Mr. Santorum is almost certainly right. No other race in the nation has so focused the Democratic Party's energy, resources or raw hunger to return to power on Capitol Hill. No other race so captures the Republican Party's vulnerabilities this year, with some public opinion polls consistently showing Mr. Santorum trailing his Democratic opponent, State Treasurer Bob Casey Jr.

To Democrats Hungry for Senate, a Pennsylvania Seat Looks Ripe

The new Dakota anti-abortion legislation is just the new and improved version of the Gay Marriage Amendment used so successfully in the last election by Karl Rove and his henchmen to bring conservative voters to the polls. It is wedge politics at its worst or finest, depending on your point of view. It is designed purely to divide voters, and divert them from their interests.

Bingo.

Is South Dakota Abortion Bill the New Gay Marriage Amendment?

A unanimous Supreme Court decision on Tuesday gave a small religious sect the right to keep importing a hallucinogenic tea, central to its ritual observance, that the government wants to ban as a controlled substance under federal narcotics law.

Sect Allowed to Import Its Hallucinogenic Tea

Efforts to extend the USA Patriot Act cleared a major hurdle yesterday when the White House and key senators agreed to revisions that are virtually certain to secure Senate passage and likely to win House approval, congressional leaders said.

Patriot Act Compromise Clears Way for Senate Vote

The United States Supreme Court on Monday rejected a bid by Research in Motion, the Canadian maker of BlackBerry e-mail devices, to review its patent dispute with the holding company NTP.

If NTP could actually put RIM/BlackBerry out of business, it might be a watershed event for patent reform.

Supreme Court Refuses Review in BlackBerry Patent Dispute

Mr. Waits said there were two kinds of imitation. "I don't mind if someone wants to try to sound like me to do a show," he said. "I get a kick out of that."

"I make a distinction," he added, "between people who use the voice as a creative item and people who are selling cigarettes and underwear. It's a big difference. We all know the difference. And it's stealing. They get a lot out of standing next to me, and I just get big legal bills."

*sigh*

Still Fighting for the Right to His Voice

A key Republican lawmaker said on Thursday he would introduce legislation designed to stop the sale of private cell phone records and push wireless carriers to better protect customer privacy.

US House lawmaker vows to protect cellphone data

The National Consumer Council (NCC) said anti-piracy efforts were eroding established rights to digital media.

Fears raised over digital rights

A federal appeals court has upheld a 55-year prison term imposed on a Utah man with no criminal record who was convicted in 2003 of selling several hundred dollars worth of marijuana on three occasions.

Prison Term of 55 Years for Drugs Is Upheld

As you can see in News Picks, there is big patent news today. For a long time, we've been complaining about the patent system, particularly as it affects FOSS. It turns out, someone listened. The New York Times' John Markoff has the story, as does Martin LaMonica. Here's Andy Updegrove's take and ComputerWorld.

One might suspect that the success of Groklaw had no small part
in this coming about.

3 Initiatives to Improve the Patent Mess Announced