A rift is growing between the FBI and the leaders of prominent Muslim-American groups over allegations that the feds tried to infiltrate a mosque in Irvine, California using a paid informant. Now, several Muslim groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), one of the largest Muslim American civil rights organizations, are threatening to cut off ties with the FBI over the use of what they call "McCarthy-era tactics." It's unclear how much damage the current rift may cause to the relationship formed by the FBI and Muslim groups in the wake of the September 11th attacks. The Takeaway talks to Alexandra Marks, a senior writer with the Christian Science Monitor, who has been following this story.

For more, read Alexandra Marks article, FBI and American Muslims at odds, in the Christian Science Monitor.

The Texas Board of Education is in the midst of a major fight this week over a new science curriculum that's designed to challenge the principle of evolution. The Board will vote tomorrow on standards that will govern science teaching on evolution in Texas for the next ten years. Right now the Board is evenly split.

This is not a small fight and it is not just about beliefs: Texas is the 2nd largest textbook market and many publishers write to the state standards. Joining us is the Chair of the Texas State Board of Education, Don McLeroy, a "young earth creationist”, who is leading the charge to question evolution in the state's science curriculum.

Democrats are re-tooling President Obama’s budget this week, while the president is pressing Congress hard to preserve his priorities of health care, energy and education. Meanwhile, Republicans are in an uproar over and even some Democrats are pushing back on some of Obama's $3.6 trillion budget. For more, we talk to our friend Todd Zwillich from Capitol News Connection.

President Obama worked to rally the country behind his economic agenda last night in a press conference that focused heavily on the budget and skimmed almost entirely over foreign policy issues. But the press conference wasn't the only way President Obama worked to get his message out yesterday. He held a smaller news meeting shortly after noon, where he called reporters to the Oval Office to talk about his efforts to revive the economy and what he hoped would come out of the G-20. He also released a video right before the press conference inviting ordinary people to go to Whitehouse.gov to submit questions that he will answer in an online town hall on the economy tomorrow.

With all of this new media and community involvement, is the traditional press conference obsolete? Joining us for a recap and some analysis are April Ryan, White House Correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks and Dan Froomkin, who writes the White House Watch blog for the Washington Post.

Have your own thoughts to add to the President's speech? Click here!

In a call to the American people, President Obama released a video asking for questions about the economy. Watch it below.

Democrats are meeting today to hash out preliminary steps towards finalizing a budget before the recess. Republicans are organizing opposition to a spending plan that many in their ranks call irresponsible. Todd Zwillich from Capitol News Connection joins us to talk about the public opinion war being waged on Capitol Hill this week and what the final budget might look like.

In these economic times, it's all about confidence. Markets responded with a surge of confidence to U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's announcement of a revised plan to help banks rid their balance sheets of toxic assets yesterday. Stock markets may be overused as indicators, but yesterday's gains were significant as stocks surged almost seven percent. Add to that the almost 5.1 percent upswing in home sales and things are starting to look good, right? Is all this good news the start of the economy turning around? Or are we still bumping up against the bottom? Kelly Evans, economics reporter for the Wall Street Journal, and Juliana Liu, the BBC's Asia business correspondent in Singapore, join The Takeaway to tell us how much confidence is actually warranted.

The United States holds at least 25,000 prisoners in long-term solitary confinement prisons across the country. They're called "Supermax" prisons, where prisoners are confined without human contact for at least 23 hours every day. Should these isolation cells be considered torture?

The Takeaway is joined by Dr. Atul Gawande, a surgeon and author of a piece in this week's New Yorker called "Annals of Human Rights". Dr. Gawande writes that we know how monkeys respond when scientists have placed them under solitary confinement: the monkeys become severely disturbed and withdrawn. It's, of course, not ethical to do similar experiments on adult human beings, but Dr. Gawande argues that is exactly what we are doing to tens of thousands of prisoners in Supermax prisons in the United States.

Every Monday morning The Takeaway takes a look at the nation's agenda —what will drive the headlines for the week ahead? This week: The government tries to figure out how to deal with toxic assets and toxic AIG, the Democrats wrangle over the new budget, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton goes to Mexico to talk about trade, and Americans and Indians see a new, cheaper car in their futures. For their predictions, The Takeaway is joined by Marcus Mabry, the international business editor for the New York Times and Jay Newton-Small, Washington correspondent for Time.

Each Monday morning The Takeaway invites a person-in-the-know to look into their crystal ball and tell us about the events of the coming week. Today we're joined by Marcus Mabry, the international business editor of the New York Times, for a look at this week's economic numbers, Europe's involvement in closing Guantanamo Bay, what may be ahead for Pakistan, and maybe the winning lottery numbers.

How has the notion of the American dream changed for the new generation of Mexicans in the United States? The Takeaway talks to Gustavo Arellano, who writes the syndicated "Ask A Mexican" column, and is a contributing editor for the Los Angeles Times opinion page.

What is your American dream? Join the discussion on The Takeaway's New American Dream section.

The man who committed perhaps the largest fraud in the history of Wall Street could now spend the rest of his life in prison. Bernard L. Madoff will likely plead guilty tomorrow to all the criminal charges filed against him by federal prosecutors. After nearly 20 years of running a Ponzi scheme that consumed billions of dollars of other people's money, those spurned want their day in court. The Takeaway talks to Diana Henriques, New York Times senior financial writer about the new details that have emerged in the case and what victims want.
For more, read her article Madoff Will Plead Guilty; Faces Life for Vast Swindle in the New York Times.

We’ve all heard about how the recession is hitting everyone and everything from automakers to coffee houses. But what about the manufacturers of luxury items? The gold-plated toilets. The private jets. The luxury aquariums. As we take a look at luxury in the downturn, we are joined by K.C. Carter. He’s the financier behind Acrylic Tank Manufacturing in Las Vegas.

While Washington, D.C. is the center of attention today, we are gathering reactions to these historic events from across the country. The conversation continues now as we turn to Adam Arlington at KWMU in St. Louis and Susanna Capelouto, news director at Georgia Public Broadcasting in Atlanta.

For many, New Years Day is the chance to wipe the slate clean, change bad behavior, start a diet and an exercise regime, and get the year started off on the right foot. In order to help those resolutions along, why not eat foods to bring you luck and good fortune and taste good to boot? From collard greens to hoppin’ John, here to explain about Southern New Years' traditions are Matt and Ted Lee, cookbook authors and proprietors of the Southern food shop boiledpeanuts.com.

Need a Hoppin' John recipe to ring in the New Year prosperously? Look no further.

Hoppin' John from "The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook"

For 6 people

TIME: 4 hours to soak peas, 1 1/2 hours to cook

1 cup dried black-eyed peas or field peas
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 smoked hog jowl (or 1/4 pound slab bacon or 4 slices thick-cut bacon)
1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
6 cups Rich Pork Broth
H teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
One 14-ounce can crushed Italian tomatoes
1 1/2 cups long-grain rice

• Wash the peas in a strainer, place them in a medium bowl, and soak for 4 hours in fresh water to cover.
• Heat the olive oil in a 4-quart pot over medium-high heat and brown the hog jowl on both sides, about 5 minutes. (If using bacon, omit the olive oil and simply render the fat in the pot for 5minutes.) Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the broth, black pepper, red pepper and salt and bring to a boil.
• Let the broth boil vigorously for 10 minutes, then add the drained peas. Boil gently over medium-high heat, uncovered, until the peas are tender but still have some bite, about 25 minutes for black-eyed peas, 30 minutes for field peas. Add the tomatoes and the rice to the pot, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer vigorously for 20 minutes, until most of the broth has been absorbed but the rice and peas are still very moist.
• Remove the pot from the heat and allow the hoppin’ John to steam, covered, until all the liquid has been absorbed, about 5 minutes. Remove the hog jowl and pull off any meat.
• Fluff the hoppin’ John with a fork. Transfer to a serving dish, sprinkle the shredded hog jowl over the top, and serve.

As the Bush administration fades in history, so will the little town of Crawford, Texas. The equivalent refuge in the Obama administration isn't really known. Obama is from Chicago...but he's also from Kahului, Hawaii.

How bad can Christmas songs get? Jack Grace, the Martini Cowboy, explores the lower depths of holiday music hell.


Knight Rider Christmas


"It's So Chic To Be Pregnant At Christmas" by Nancy White
Read the lyrics »

"Mister Russian, Please Don’t Shoot Down Santa’s Sleigh" by The Sensational Little Shana Lynette
Listen at musicalfruitcake.com »

"Please, Daddy (Don't Get Drunk On Christmas)" by John Denver
Read the lyrics »

"A Toolbox Christmas" by Woody Phillips
Preview the CD at Amazon.com »

"Santa Claus Won't You Shoot My Boss" by Jack Grace, the Martini Cowboy
Listen to our own Jack Grace performing the new Christmas classic »

Discover more bad holiday songs at musicalfruitcake.com »
And there's more from Jack Grace at jackgrace.com »

With more people out of work during the holidays, shoplifting is on the rise. Ian Urbina, reporter for The New York Times, talks about the vulnerablity as well as the sympathy retailers feel for their customers.

After 21 years in office, Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., lost the 2008 election to Democratic challenger Jim Himes. Shays joins The Takeaway to reflect on the future and the past.

The first brother to pitch against another brother in a baseball all-star game.