meme orandum
| A newfangled news tangle |
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Rigging the Rules WaPo — Permalink Code of Official Conduct, Rule XXIII, Clause 1. OF ALL THE ethical rules governing the conduct of House members, this is perhaps the most critical. It has been used to discipline members for taking bribes, fixing parking tickets and having sex with House pages. | |
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Josh Marshall: As the Washington Post noted last Friday, House Republicans are planning to begin the new session of Congress tomorrow... Sam Rosenfeld: For those who aren't up to speed on the GOP's plans, which surfaced last week, this Washington Post piece offers a nice... Kos @DailyKos: [quote]The WaPo explains: "It has been used to discipline members for taking bribes, fixing parking tickets and having sex with House pages."[end quote] |
Kevin Raybould: The Party of Corruption — The House GOP is about to make it official: they are the party of corruption Atrios: The WaPo explains: It has been used to discipline members for taking bribes, fixing parking tickets and having sex with House pages. Charles Kuffner: [quote]"All of this is designed to make one man truly above the law," said Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.[end quote] |
| Also: Susan Madrak, Randy Paul | |
House GOP Reverses Course on Ethics Rules By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON (AP) - House Republicans suddenly reversed course Monday, deciding to retain a tough standard for lawmaker discipline and reinstate a rule that would force Majority Leader Tom DeLay to step aside if indicted by a Texas grand jury. | |
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Josh Marshall: And now this comes across the AP Wire ... [snipped quote] So the DeLay Rule is no more? Michael Froomkin: GOP caves on two ethics changes: no watering down of the House ethics rule, and a reversal of the "DeLay Rule" that... |
Jeralyn Merritt: Republicans Abandon Effort to Revise Ethics Rules — In a surprise move, Republican leaders met tonight and decided to abandon their attempt to revise the ethics rules. Randy Paul: House Republicans to ethics: drop dead. Morals? We don't need no stinkin' morals! UPDATE: They've flip-flopped. |
Hefley stands up to The Hammer Denver Post — Permalink Congressional leaders are rumored to be considering replacing Rep. Joel Hefley as House ethics committee chair, in order to protect Tom DeLay. Colorado Congressman Joel Hefley is sometimes a lone voice against Rep. Tom DeLay, the prickly Texas Republican who wields immense influence over Congress. | |
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Josh Marshall: Reportedly he's about to be canned by Speaker Hastert and replaced by ... who? ... you guessed it, Lamar Smith. Charles Kuffner: The Republicans had taken a lot of well-deserved criticism for their arrogant attempt to separate consequences from... |
Sam Rosenfeld: The current head of the ethics committee, the very conservative but very independent Colorado congressman Joel Hefley,... |
Social Security Formula Weighed WaPo — Permalink The Bush administration has signaled that it will propose changing the formula that sets initial Social Security benefit levels, cutting promised benefits by nearly a third in the coming decades, according to several Republicans close to the White House. | |
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Nathan Nance: One more on Social Security tonight — Guest post by Nate Nance Since I was so pleased by the Times' editorial, I guess... Josh Marshall: WaPo on part one of the Bush Social Security plan: cut "benefits by nearly a third in the coming decades." |
Oliver Willis: The Republicans Want To Cut Social Security — Plain and simple, it's right here. [snipped quote] These are slam dunks, congressional Dems. |
The Social Security Fear Factor NYT — Permalink If you've lent even one ear to the administration's recent comments on Social Security, you have no doubt heard President Bush and his aides asserting that a $10 trillion shortfall threatens the retirement system - and the economy itself. | |
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Nathan Nance: The Times gets down and dirty on Social Security — Guest post by Nate Nance Today's NY Times had a great editorial on... PGL: The Social Security Fear Factor — This is the title of a very good oped from Gail Collins. Josh Marshall: Bless their hearts. The Times states the facts correctly: [snipped quote] The whole editorial is well worth your reading. |
Steve Soto: The New York Times nailed Bush today on his deceptive campaign to sell privatization while he ignores other problems of his own creation in Medicare. Kevin Drum: In the meantime, the New York Times has a good editorial on Social Security today. |
Elder Bush, Clinton to Lead Relief Effort By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON - President Bush on Monday tapped two former presidents — his father, President George H.W. Bush, and his predecessor, President Clinton — to lead a nationwide, private fund-raising campaign to help victims of the Asian tsunamis. | |
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Steve M.: Bush asks Bill Clinton to help lead a tsunami relief effort? A rare classy move for Bush — maybe; more likely, an attempt to avoid being shown up. Jeralyn Merritt: Bush Picks His Dad and Clinton to Lead Tsunami Relief Drive — This is the smartest move yet by Bush in trying to... Jeff Jarvis: Coming together : Bush has appointed his father and Bill Clinton to lead a private fundraising effort for tsunami relief. |
Steve Antler: See how often mainstream (usually government-sponsored) Mideast press passes along wild conspiracy theories regarding... James Martin Capozzola: I'm pleased to see President Tequila Worm turning to those much wiser, including President Bill Clinton, to coordinate... Atrios: It's an actual surprising move by Bush: "WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) has tapped former Presidents... |
House GOP Reverses Course on Ethics Rules ABCNEWS — Permalink WASHINGTON Jan 3, 2005 — House Republicans suddenly reversed course Monday, deciding to retain a tough standard for lawmaker discipline and reinstate a rule that would force Majority Leader Tom DeLay to step aside if indicted by a Texas grand jury. | |
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Nathan Nance: Not surprisingly, after tons of groups have publicly chided them on this very stupid ethics repeal idea, ABC News is... Kos @DailyKos: GOP, DeLay cave — The GOP will drop efforts to change the ethics rules, and will also go back to the old rule that indicted leadership have to surrender their posts. |
Charles Kuffner: DeLay rule rescinded — Well, well, well. Sometimes outrage gets results. |
5000 Americans unaccounted for NEWS.com.au — Permalink AS MANY as 5000 Americans are still unaccounted for a week after the world's deadliest tsunami pounded a dozen countries across the Indian Ocean, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said today. | |
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Camille Roy: Well, Powell, one of the few grown-ups in the Administration, has touched this political hot potato. James Joyner: 5000 Americans Unaccounted For 5000 Americans unaccounted for (AFP) [snipped quote] Sadly, those who are still... |
Tim Blair: Meanwhile, some 5,000 US citizens known to have been in the region are still unaccounted for, according to Colin Powell. Digby: WTF — Via See The Forest I found this story. [snipped quote] Is this for real? |
Myths Run Wild in Blog Tsunami Debate By / NYT — Permalink As the horror of the South Asian tsunami spread and people gathered online to discuss the disaster on sites known as Web logs, or blogs, those of a political bent naturally turned the discussion to their favorite topics. | |
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Jeff Jarvis: Marginalizing your own public : I smell an editor with a grudge at work in The New York Times' wrong-headed story on blogs today. Charles Johnson: NYT Reads Democratic Underground — To illustrate blogs' coverage of the Asian tsunami, the New York Times goes to none... James Joyner: Update (1009): NYT also has a story on blogs today: Myths Run Wild in Blog Tsunami Debate. The blog in question? |
Brian Montopoli: The New York Times starts things off today by attacking "the blogosphere's tendency towards crackpot theorizing" in a story about blogs reacting to tsunami news. Tarek @LiquidList: What an abominable piece of drek this New York Times item on the blog response to the tsunami. Ann Althouse: The NYT is observing the blogosphere again and somehow I feel all inspired to smack them down. |
| Also: Jeralyn Merritt, Glenn Reynolds, Steve Gilliard, Kevin Aylward, Paul @Wizbang, Ed Cone, McQ | |
U.S. pledges $350 million relief By / Washington Times — Permalink President Bush yesterday announced that the United States will commit $350 million to help tsunami victims in the Indian Ocean region, more than the combined contributions of Europe's richest nations. | |
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Tim Dunlop: A scummy amount of money initially on offer—four million bucks—and allowing days to pass before even contacting the leaders of the countries involved. The Poor Man: Twenty-four hours and a few hundred million dollars in promises later, the front page of the Washington Times, top... |
DeLong: Don't we owe the dead, dying and injured the minimal grace not to convert their suffering into a chat-show segment —... |
Mr. Heyward Goes to Washington Broadcasting & Cable — Permalink Let the fence-mending begin. According to a Broadcasting & Cable source in Washington, D.C. , CBS News president Andrew Heyward, along with Washington bureau chief Janet Leissner, recently met with White House communications director Dan Bartlett, in part to repair chilly relations with the Bush administration. | |
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Charles Johnson: Mr. Heyward Goes to Washington — Anticipating the long-awaited report on Memogate, the president of CBS News went to... Atrios: That Liberal Media CBS: Let the fence-mending begin. According to a Broadcasting & Cable source in Washington, D.C. Roger L. Simon: Some People Get a Second Chance — A tantalizingly brief article linked by Drudge this morning tells us "CBS News... |
Deacon: Broadcasting & Cable reports that CBS news head Andrew Heyward and CBS Washington bureau chief Janet Leissner recently... Captain Ed: Good Luck On That Sale — Drudge links to a Broadcasting & Cable item that reports on a meeting between beleaguered CBS News president Andrew Heyward and the White House. Bill @INDCJournal: Ominous Sign — Via Drudge: [snipped quote] The fact that CBS sent Andrew Heyward to make nice wouldn't seem to... |
| Also: KJL | |
Politics & Policies: Bin Laden's trepidation By / Washington Times — Permalink Washington, DC, Jan. 2 (UPI) — Osama bin Laden, the man who since 9/11 brought fear into the hearts of millions, is now running scared. The master terrorist is afraid; he is very afraid. | |
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Captain Ed: Osama's Nightmare — Claude Salhani at the Washington Times presents an analysis of Osama bin Laden's reaction to the... Orrin Judd: YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE, AN ARAB WITH A VOTE: Bin Laden's trepidation (Claude Salhani, 1/02/05, UPI) [snipped quote] Bin... |
Smash: Claude Salhani takes a closer look at the Bin Laden's latest diatribe. |
Paul Stenhouse: Tsunamis are not the wrath of God The Australian — Permalink THE world is still reeling from the tsunami in the Indian Ocean that caused such loss of life and devastation on Boxing Day. Numbness, disbelief and outrage at our powerlessness, our inability to warn the victims, or to save them, is a common reaction. | |
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Arthur Chrenkoff: For a "Tsunamis are not the wrath of God" view, read today's op-ed piece by Paul Stenhouse, a Catholic priest and journalist. |
Peter Burnet: THE ULTIMATE PARADOX — Tsunamis are not the wrath of God (Paul Stenhouse, The Australian, January 4th, 2005)... |
GOP Abandons Ethics Changes By / WaPo — Permalink House Republican leaders last night abandoned proposals to loosen rules governing members' ethical conduct, as they yielded to pressure from rank-and-file lawmakers concerned that the party was sending the wrong message. | |
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Andrew Sullivan: THEY'RE NOT STUPID: Here's a sign that the Republican leadership on the Hill know that hubris is a real danger. |
Josh Marshall: The Times and the Post weigh in with the backstory on the repeal of the DeLay Rule. |
Sandra Bullock chips in $1M for tsunami relief bizjournals — Permalink On-again, off-again Austin resident Sandra Bullock has donated $1 million to the American Red Cross for tsunami disaster relief in southern Asian and eastern Africa. | |
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McQ: Consistent charity — A hat tip and salute to Sandra Bullock: "Sandra Bullock has donated $1 million to the American Red... Michelle Malkin: SANDRA BULLOCK: NOT STINGY — The Austin (Tx.) Business Journal reports: [snipped quote] Kudos to her! |
James Joyner: Sandra Bullock Donates $1 Million to Tsunami Relief — Sandra Bullock chips in $1M for tsunami relief (Austin Business... |
Video Blogs Break Out With Tsunami Scenes WSJ — Permalink When twenty-one-year-old Jordan Golson launched his Web diary, or blog, in early December, his conservative views on news and politics weren't exactly in demand, attracting about 10 surfers a day. | |
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Joe Gandelman: ON BLOGGING: The Tsunami Marks Another Milestone Via Videos Of The Tragedy — Blogers_3 When the brutal tsunami crashed... Bill Hobbs: Tsunami Video Blogging — The Wall Street Journal has a story online about tsunami video blogging. Don't miss it. Jeff Jarvis: Until and unless they put this up as a free link, Punditguy has the text. : Free link up now here. |
Roger L. Simon: Soon there will be so many competing video outlets when someone is unmasked as a liar, he or she will simply be switched off. Glenn Reynolds: Judging by this Wall St. Journal story, (free link) the time has come. (Via Pundit Guy, who's mentioned.) |
Aid agency: stop donating NEWS.com.au — Permalink THE Australian branch of aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors without Borders) has become possibly the first in the world to ask donors to stop pledging money to its tsunami appeal. | |
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Arthur Chrenkoff: One Australian charity, however, is pulling the plug: "The Australian branch of aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres... James Joyner: Aid Agency: Stop Donating — Aid agency: stop donating (News.com) [snipped quote] Interesting. |
Tim Blair: The Australian branch of Medecins Sans Frontieres has asked donors to stop sending money after reaching its $1 million target in just three days. |
An Iranian Student Makes His Escape In Face of Charges By / New York Sun — Permalink WASHINGTON - A key student leader of the Iranian referendum movement has fled the Islamic republic amid a court investigation into his organizing activities. | |
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Roger L. Simon: A Camel Miscreant Escapes — Akbar Atri, an Iranian student opposition leader (in other words a real militant, as... Pejman Yousefzadeh: As such, I imagine that we are going to come across a lot more stories like this one: [snipped quote] Of course, a... |
Laura Rozen: Here's an article based on an recent interview with him. KJL: A STUDENT LEADER flees Iran. |
Bullock Donates $1M for Tsunami Relief AP — Permalink NEW YORK - Actress Sandra Bullock (news) has donated $1 million to the American Red Cross to help relief efforts in countries affected by the deadly earthquake and tsunamis in southern Asia and eastern Africa. | |
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Kevin Roderick: Sandra Bullock steps up — Reuters photo from Krueng Raya, IndonesiaThe actress donated $1 million to the American Red Cross for tsunami relief efforts in Asia and Africa. |
Cookie Jill: AP/Yahoo News Posted by Hello to me, ms. bullock has always seemed down to earth and grounded. (probably why i like... |
How the Left Betrayed My Country - Iraq By / Front Page Magazine — Permalink Before the last war, we Iraqis spent decades cut off from the outside world. Not only did the Baathist regime prevent us from traveling during the Iran-Iraq conflict and the period of the sanctions, but they punished anyone possessing satellite television. | |
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Cori Dauber: Just the same, it's an important piece of writing. Paul Jaminet: HEROES TO THEMSELVES: How the Left Betrayed My Country - Iraq (Naseer Flayih Hasan, FrontPage magazine, 1/3/2005) [snipped quote] This will be the epitaph of the Left. |
Hindrocket: "How the Left Betrayed Iraq" — That's the title of this fine article in FrontPage Magazine by Iraqi Naseer Flayih... |
Journalists shouldn't be cheerleaders By / St. Petersburg Times — Permalink It's hardly a shocker that Norman Mailer could show up at a place like Cambridge, Mass., and win big applause with a speech attacking President Bush. After all, employees of Harvard University gave more money to John Kerry's presidential campaign than people who work anywhere else (except the University of California). | |
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Jason Van Steenwyk: We're making a dent... Andrew Sullivan links to this account of the mindless media dweebs giving a standing O to... |
Andrew Sullivan: MEDIA BIAS WATCH: A journalists' standing ovation for an anti-Bush tirade by Norman Mailer. |
Militants' Campaign Twists Logistics of Iraq Election By / LAT — Permalink BAGHDAD — The parties have registered, the alliances have formed and the calls for a delay have mostly died down. With the first frantic stage of Iraq's landmark electoral saga past, planners face the nuts and bolts of holding a credible vote in four weeks' time. | |
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Greyhawk: New Year's Weekend at War — Welcome new readers, to the Mudville Gazette, the weblog of a GI in Iraq. Hope you enjoy your visit. |
Hugh Hewitt: A few quick pointers before heading off to court: The sub-head on the Los Angeles Times' front page story on the... |
Liberté, Egalité, Absurdité By / NYT — Permalink LA plus ça change. In 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson sent marines to the Dominican Republic to protect American citizens during a violent civil war, President Charles de Gaulle of France condemned the intervention. | |
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Richard Reeb: In a great piece with the delightful headline of "Liberté, Egalité, Absurdité," Miller traces... Stirling Newberry: New York Times promotes racism. again. It seems the New York Times once again finds room in its pages for racism. |
Betsy Newmark: John J. Miller recommends the most dire punishment of all for the French. Just ignore them. KJL: JOHN MILLER KNOWS HOW TO RING IN THE NEW YEAR — A little French love (uh, yeah, you know better) in the NYTimes. |
Rome's Next Choice? By / Time — Permalink Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, the chief architect of Pope John Paul II's traditionalist moral policy, has long been a bugaboo for liberal Catholics. But they had stopped worrying that the German might one day ascend to St. Peter's throne. | |
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Orrin Judd: RATZINGER SOLUTION: Rome's Next Choice? |
Steve Dillard: First, Quin teases me with speculation that President Bush may give Judge Pryor a recess appointment to the Supreme... |
Secret Meeting, Clear Mission: 'Rescue' U.N. By / NYT — Permalink UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 2 - The meeting of veteran foreign policy experts in a Manhattan apartment one recent Sunday was held in strict secrecy. The guest of honor arrived without his usual retinue of aides. The mission, in the words of one participant, was clear: "to save Kofi and rescue the U.N." | |
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Richard Reeb: Kofi Annan's UN Malaise — Feeling the heat from his American critics, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan held... Steve Clemons: Warren Hoge disclosed the December 5 meeting today in a New York Times report. If anyone hears who leaked the story to him, let me know. Captain Ed: The New York Times reports on what can only be called an intervention for Kofi Annan in a Manhattan apartment that recently took place. |
Kate @OTB: The New York Times is reporting that supporters of Kofi Annan held a private meeting recently with Sec.General in an... Betsy Newmark: The New York Times has a report of a secret meeting by friends of the United Nations who met with Kofi Annan to try to... Matthew Yglesias: I'm all for rescuing the UN, but it's hard to see how a secret meeting with American Democrats is going to accomplish that. |
| Also: Laura Rozen, KJL | |
Voices of Freedom By / Opinion Journal — Permalink An interesting experiment recently took place in Iraq seeking to uncover a rarely explored aspect of life in the country, writes Jeff Jacoby: How would Iraq appear if we saw it through not the reporting of Western journalists, but the candid testimony of Iraqis themselves? | |
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Andrew Olmsted: Arthur Chrenkoff's latest good news from Iraq is up for your perusal. Arthur Chrenkoff: Good news from Iraq, Part 18 — Note: Also available at the "Opinion Journal" and Winds of Change. Glenn Reynolds: And, of course, Arthur Chrenkoff's regular feature of underreported stories from Iraq is up, over at OpinionJournal. |
Cori Dauber: Harder and harder to come to the conclusion that they aren't just actively avoiding including some of this information in their stories. Mrs Greyhawk: "Here's the positive developments from the past two weeks: Chrenkoff Opinion Journal With less than four weeks to the..." Pejman Yousefzadeh: THE GOOD NEWS ROUNDUP FROM IRAQ — Courtesy of Chrenkoff. Go and read. |
| Also: FrancoAlemán | |
'Pony Up' and Then 'Party On,' Inaugural Officials Say By / NYT — Permalink Kelsey Grammer will be the M.C. at a kickoff inaugural gala honoring the military, the rap artist Kid Rock will perform at an inaugural youth concert and President Bush's most reliable fund-raisers have so far collected $15 million for three days of meticulously planned parties to celebrate his second swearing-in. | |
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Barbara O'Brien: Elisabeth Bumiller writes in today's New York Times, "... last week two pockets of the capital were humming: the State... |
Steve M.: Kelsey Grammer will be the M.C. at a kickoff inaugural gala honoring the military, the rap artist Kid Rock will perform... |
Don D'Cruz: Free trade more precious than foreign aid The Australian — Permalink LAST week, the UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland caused a mini-storm by saying that Western governments are stingy when it comes to foreign aid. | |
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Tim Blair: Don D'Cruz points out the disadvantages of the former, and the benefits of the latter: "Setting aside the emergency... |
Glenn Reynolds: DON D'CRUZ WRITES IN THE AUSTRALIAN THAT TRADE IS BETTER THAN AID: "Setting aside the emergency relief being rushed to... |
This is no humanitarian crisis - Darfur is a war By / Christian Science Monitor — Permalink SWEET BRIAR, VA. - Forced evacuations and mass rapes; brutal ethnic killings and rampaging militias; oil profits and arms sales. The deadly mix of politics, economics, and insecurity has displaced 1.6 million people and killed tens of thousands in the Darfur region of western Sudan since early 2003. | |
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Orrin Judd: JUST A WAR: This is no humanitarian crisis - Darfur is a war (Sarah Kenyon Lischer, 1/03/05, CS Monitor) |
Eugene Oregon: The UN says it has received far more donations for tsunami victims that it received in 2004 for such places as Darfur and the Democratic Republic of the Congo combined. |
Bloomberg's City Hall plagued by Giuliani foibles By / New York Newsday — Permalink It is a story that has developed in increments, without photo-ops, since 2002. Slowly. Almost imperceptibly. Now a pattern is emerging. The Department of Investigation's ongoing review of ex-Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik's past actions marks only... | |
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Steve Gilliard: Bloomberg's City Hall plagued by Giuliani foibles BY DAN JANISON STAFF WRITER January 2, 2005, 5:42 PM EST "It is a... |
David Allan Pell: Perhaps the big question in all of this is whether the soiling of this nomination and the collection of other dirt... |
Shirley Chisholm dies at 80 AP — Permalink DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. - Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress and an outspoken advocate for women and minorities during seven terms in the House, died Saturday, friends said. She was 80. | |
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Avedon Carol: Shirley Chisholm, Bob Matsui — She was the first black woman elected to Congress, and she ran for president, too. |
Charles Kuffner: RIP, Shirley Chisholm and Bob Matsui — Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress, has died at the age of 80. |
WAVE RAT By / New York Post — Permalink A woman who donated a coveted Web site address to what she thought was a fund-raising organization for tsumani victims claims she was scammed by a college student who tried to sell the domain for $50,000. | |
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Steve Gilliard: Like scum rising to the top nicer than the scumbag who tried to make money off the dead WAVE RAT By LEONARD GREENE [snipped quote] Yeah, right. |
Michelle Malkin: MORE TSUNAMI VULTURES — The New York Post nabs a Canadian college kid trying to make money off the tsunami disaster by auctioning a domain name he scammed from an American. |
US plans permanent Guantanamo jails Guardian — Permalink The United States is preparing to hold terrorism suspects indefinitely without trial, replacing the Guantanamo Bay prison camp with permanent prisons in the Cuban enclave and elsewhere, it was reported yesterday. | |
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Avedon Carol: Sweet land of liberty — It goes like this: "US plans permanent Guantanamo jails The United States is preparing to hold... |
Tim Dunlop: Land of the free — Down the slippery slope we go: [snipped quote] Funny, when I was the National Archives yesterday I... |
BUSH BASH BOOK BURSTS IN TIME FOR INAUGURAL Drudge Report — Permalink Christine Todd Whitman, the former New Jersey governor who was President Bush's first administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, has written a book that touts the importance of moderates to the future of the Republican Party and flays Bush and his team for ignoring the country's middle. | |
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Hindrocket: Oh, Great — Matt Drudge is reporting that Christine Whitman has written a book titled It's My Party, Too, which will hit the bookstores in time for President Bush's inauguration. Rice Grad: The last of the country club Republicans: Christie Todd Whitman has written a book entitled [snipped quote] Most of the book's Bush-bashing is probably in the promotional materials. |
Michelle Malkin: THE CURSE OF CHRISTIE TODD WHITMAN — So, she's going to blast Bush and moan about the "antiregulatory lobbyists and extreme antigovernment ideologues" in the GOP? |
Look back at Weimar - and start to worry about Russia By / Telegraph — Permalink In an amateurish sort of way, I am a Russophile. It was reading War and Peace as a schoolboy that convinced me I should study history at university. My favourite film is still the Soviet-era adaptation of Tolstoy's masterpiece. Throughout my twenties, I was a Dostoevsky devotee. | |
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Pejman Yousefzadeh: WHITHER RUSSIA? Niall Ferguson is quite concerned. |
KJL: HATING PUTIN — Niall Ferguson: "it was always possible to love Russia and to hate the Soviet Union. |
Gonzales Is Likely to Face Hard Questions in Hearings By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 - When the Senate Judiciary Committee begins hearings on Thursday to consider President Bush's nomination of Alberto R. Gonzales to be attorney general, two starkly different portraits of Mr. Gonzales will be on display. | |
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Matthew Yglesias: Meanwhile, The New York Times reports that Senate Democrats plan to respond to the nomination of "torture memo" author... Michael Froomkin: That Bar Is Looking Mighty Low, Senator — Senator Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat on the Judiciary Committee,... |
Susan Madrak: SPINELESS — So why the f**k have the Democrats decided to let the Gonzales nomination slide on through? Jeralyn Merritt: Admiral to Testify Against Alberto Gonzales' Confirmation — The New York Times today reports on Thursday's confirmation hearing for Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General. |
Wrong Step on Judges WaPo — Permalink IT WOULDN'T HAVE been hard for President Bush to set a new tone in judicial nominations. A little magnanimity and some understanding of the wrongs the president's own side has committed — as well as the wrongs committed against it — could have gone a long way. | |
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Richard Reeb: We read in today's WaPo editorial that President Bush's defiant renomination of all 20 candidates that did not receive a... |
Jeralyn Merritt: Bush Missteps on Judicial Nominations — The Washington Post takes President Bush to task today on his judicial... |
DEMS CONSIDER TORTURE SHOW 'N TELL AT GONZALES HEARING Drudge Report — Permalink During upcoming confirmation hearings for Attorney General-nominee Alberto Gonzales, senior Democrats want to screen infamous videotapes showing Iraqis being abused at Abu Ghraib prison, top sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT. | |
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John Derbyshire: But, hey, what does that matter, if we can keep conservatives off the federal bench? |
KJL: NO JANUARY LULL — Senate Dems are ready to get ugly when the Gonzales hearings begin Thursday. |
Frank words for Annan in effort to revitalize UN By / NYT — Permalink UNITED NATIONS, New York The crisis meeting of veteran foreign policy experts in a Manhattan apartment one recent Sunday was held in agreed-upon secrecy. The high profile guest of honor came unaccompanied by his usual retinue of aides and without the knowledge of most of his closest advisers. | |
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Wretchard: The International Herald Tribune reports that Kofi Annan met in closed door session with supporters in the Manhattan... Roger L. Simon: Kofi Klatch — What's interesting about the "secret" meeting between Kofi Annan and "veteran [American] foreign policy... Glenn Reynolds: SUPPORTERS OF THE UNITED NATIONS have reportedly staged an intervention with Kofi Annan at Richard Holbrooke's home:... |
Pejman Yousefzadeh: BELLING THE CAT — It becomes harder and harder to deny that there is a problem at the United Nations when we read... Orrin Judd: WE WANT BILL: Frank words for Annan in effort to revitalize UN (Warren Hoge, January 3, 2005, The New York Times)... |
Powell says he's leaving politics AP — Permalink WASHINGTON (AP) — As he prepares to end his tenure as secretary of state, Colin Powell is ruling out a run for political office. Asked on the Sunday talk shows if he had any plans to seek elective office, Powell responded with a firm and quick, "No." | |
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James Joyner: Powell Says He's Leaving Politics — Powell says he's leaving politics (CNN) [snipped quote] Powell is in his fifth... Tbogg: Powell says he's leaving politics As he prepares to end his tenure as secretary of state, Colin Powell is ruling out a run for political office. |
Ellen Dana Nagler: We know that because he's scheduled to do an afternoon of raconteuring in Santa Barbara on April 3, as part of UCSB's... |
'I'm Going to Learn' By / Newsweek — Permalink Jan. 10 issue - It was a little after 7 p.m. on election night 2004. The network exit polls showed John Kerry leading George Bush in both Florida and Ohio by three points. Kerry's aides were confident that the Democratic candidate would carry these key swings states; Bush had not broken 48 percent in Kerry's recent tracking polls. | |
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Nathan Nance: Guest post by Nate Nance Newsweek has a special interview with Sen. John Kerry online that I found very fun to read. Captain Ed: I doubt that time will come with their current leadership. UPDATE: Newsweek has released the article to the Internet. Michael Graham: The way I sound?" — One of the two frontrunners for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, Sen. John Kerry. |
Orrin Judd: THERE'S NO EVIDENCE HE'S LEARNING SO FAR: 'I'm Going to Learn': First, the blame. Then, the healing. Lorie Byrd: Lest there be any doubt that Americans made the correct choice on election day, read this Newsweek article about John Kerry. KJL: Kerry to run again? Maybe it seemed that way nine days after the election, but I'd certainly bet against it. |
| Also: Jan Haugland, Betsy Newmark, Vanderleun, Taegan Goddard | |
Democratic Rep. Bob Matsui Dies at Age 63 ABCNEWS — Permalink Rep. Robert Matsui, D-Calif., talks with reporters in his Capitol Hill office in Washington in this Feb. 13, 2003 file photo. (AP Photo/Matthew Cavanaugh, File) | |
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Von @ObsidianWings: And, maybe, a few draw a lesson from the life now past: [snipped quote] You can rationalize any absurdity — until you look at it. Michelle Malkin: BOB MATSUI, R.I.P. Democratic Rep. Bob Matsui of California died last night of complications related to a rare stem cell... Wind Rider: I had this pick on my list, natch, but my idiot human wouldn't send it to Nardo's idiot human, who, by the way, is still procrastinating with the lists. |
James Joyner: Democratic Rep. Bob Matsui Dies at Age 63 — Democratic Rep. Bob Matsui Dies at Age 63 (ABC News - AP) [snipped quote] A shame. Pejman Yousefzadeh: WOW! People can be quite weird, can't they? (The comments are in relation to this story.) KJL: R.I.P. Rep. Bob Matsui dies |
In Plan to Reduce Deficit, White House Turns to Old Projections By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Jan. 1 - To show that President Bush can fulfill his campaign promise to cut the deficit in half by 2009, White House officials are preparing a budget that will assume a significant jump in revenues and omit the cost of major initiatives like overhauling Social Security. | |
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Tom Burka: To make the case that President Bush can halve the deficit, White House officials are preparing a "masterful account"... Eugene Oregon: The Absurdity ... The Absurdity — Via Legal Fiction I found out about this New York Times article that just has to be... Nathan Newman: The next federal budget looks to be a monument to Enron budget accounting, according to this story. |
Tom Maguire: (3) Both the WaPo and the Times tell us that tax reform won't happen until 2006. Andrew Sullivan: The Bush administration has made some promising noises about reducing domestic spending in the last couple of months,... DeLong: The Bush Administration Clown Show Continues — Edmund Andrews reports on another phony budget coming down the pike from... |
| Also: Steve M. | |
Senator Says Lifetime Terror Detentions 'Bad Idea' Reuters — Permalink WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A reported U.S. plan to keep some suspected terrorists imprisoned for a lifetime even if the government lacks evidence to charge them in courts was swiftly condemned on Sunday as a "bad idea" by a leading Republican senator. | |
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Joe Gandelman: UPDATE: The idea has already been condemned by a Republican Senator: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A reported U.S. plan to... Matt Welch: Headline from Reuters: "Senator Says Lifetime Terror Detentions 'Bad Idea'". |
Avedon Carol: Well, okay, Richard Lugar isn't quite speechless - he says it's a "bad idea". And Carl Levin says that you have to have "a modicum" of due process. Skippy: people we'd never thought we'd agree with, part 55 senator richard lugar: "a reported u.s. plan to keep some suspected... |
The Army We Need NYT — Permalink The nation mourns the men and women in uniform who are killed or wounded in Iraq, one by one. But the public needs to be aware, and be worried, about the larger picture too. Our military and our military readiness have been strained and risk real, permanent damage. | |
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Greyhawk: Forgive me for shooting the sitting duck, the fish in the barrel, but under the headline "The Army We Need" the Times has written an editorial calling for the Army they need. Barbara O'Brien: Today, "Our military and our military readiness have been strained and risk real, permanent damage," according to this NY Times editorial. Matthew Yglesias: Bigger Army, Or Smaller Mission — New York Times editorial page versus Steve Clemons. |
Phillip Carter: The New York Times editorialized today that we need a bigger military. Steve Clemons: THE ARMY WE (DON'T) NEED The New York Times disappoints me with this editorial today. |
A Time to Mourn By / NYT — Permalink I have this week's front pages arrayed on the desk around me. There's a picture of dead children lined up on a floor while a mother wails. There's a picture of a man on the beach holding his dead son's hand to his forehead. There are others, each as wrenching as the last. | |
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Steve M.: So, did you catch the New Year's Day column by David Brooks? If so, do you have any idea what the hell he's trying to say? Avedon Carol: The latest installment in Brad DeLong's "Why Oh Why Can't We Have a Better Press Corps?" series of posts looks at... Digby: Too Many Brownies — Am I mistaken or is David Brooks saying that the best way to understand natural disasters is to believe that the victims deserved to die? |
Atrios: Bobo's World — Bobo: [snipped quote] Shorter Bobo, courtesy of Fred Phelps: Thank God for 3,000 Dead Americans! DeLong: Let's rewind: Brooks believes that newspaper stories about how some were randomly saved from and others killed by the... Tom Maguire: Teach Your Children — David Brooks surveys the tsunamai story and warns against silly feel-good stories |
Palestinian Stirrings By / WaPo — Permalink Something is stirring in Gaza. There is a sense of hope and possibility, a belief that it is time for a change. And there is a new discourse that includes all Palestinian factions and an open questioning of violence. | |
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Roger L. Simon: Optimism from Ross — Dennis Ross—the man who has devoted his life to Israeli/Palestinian peace—sees cause for optimism in this WaPo oped this morning. Deacon: Consider the source — I have some addtional thoughts on Trunk's post from earlier today regarding the piece about the... Josh Chafetz: DENNIS ROSS IS HOPEFUL about the coming of a new mindset in the Palestinian territories. Here's hoping he's right. |
The Big Trunk: Wishing and stirring — In his Washinton Post column ("Palestinian stirrings") this morning, Dennis Ross reports on his... Pejman Yousefzadeh: HOPE? Dennis Ross is optimistic about what might be the new thinking going on in Palestinian leadership circles. |
It's Her Party and She'll Cry If She Wants To WaPo — Permalink Christine Todd Whitman, the former New Jersey governor who was President Bush's first administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, is violating the omerta of Bush alumni with a memoir that touts the importance of moderates to the future of the Republican Party and flays Bush and his team for ignoring the country's middle. | |
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Ramesh Ponnuru: CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN — According to the Washington Post, she [snipped quote] It is possible, I suppose, that she will have something interesting to say in the book. Betsy Newmark: Now, Dick Morris is claiming credit for Viktor Yushchenko's victory in Ukraine. |
Taegan Goddard: Whitman Blasts Right Wing — Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman (R) "is violating the omerta of Bush alumni... |
Striking Gould In D.C. By / WaPo — Permalink Fifty years ago this afternoon, a 22-year- old Canadian pianist named Glenn Gould walked out onto the stage of the Phillips Collection and played his first American recital. Gould, already famous in his native land for brilliance, originality and what some considered eccentricity, did not disappoint in Washington. | |
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Ann Althouse: In the Washington Post, Tim Page writes about Glenn Gould: [snipped quote] Is it true that back in the 1950s, there wasn't an emphasis on diagnosis? Pejman Yousefzadeh: THE MAGIC OF GLENN GOULD — A fine retrospective can be found here: [snipped quote] By curious coincidence—or... |
Orrin Judd: WONDROUS STRANGE: Striking Gould In D.C. : 50 Years Ago, a Grand Pianist Caught Washington's Ear (Tim Page, January 2,... |
Holding the Keys to Power, Tuxes if Needed By / WaPo — Permalink Second inaugurations tend to be relatively low-key affairs compared with the first go-round, but the most experienced concierge in Washington feels certain this one will be a blowout to rival its predecessor. | |
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Barbara O'Brien: Maureen Fan of the Washington Post interviewed the head concierge at the Hay-Adams Hotel. "We're not calling it an inauguration," he said. Cookie Jill: king george...literally. |
Avedon Carol: A bit of blogginess — Maru asks, Is it too early to start puking? after reading this story in the WaPo: We're not... |
Transcript for Jan. 2 MSNBC — Permalink PLEASE CREDIT ANY QUOTES OR EXCERPTS FROM THIS NBC TELEVISION PROGRAM TO "NBC NEWS' MEET THE PRESS." This is a rush transcript provided for the information and convenience of the press. Accuracy is not guaranteed. In case of doubt, please check with: | |
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Roger L. Simon: Depends on What Your Definition of 'Disturbing' Is — The real identity of Mahmoud Abbas was not just on Dennis Ross'... Gregory Djerejian: Powell on the U.S. Tsunami Relief Effort — On today's Meet the Press. |
Ann Althouse: He calmly and efficiently explains everything. But what's this? [snipped quote] The transcript does not show the repeated throat-clearings. |
Campus life, fully exposed By / US News — Permalink In the fall of 2000, I promised my daughter the freshman that I wouldn't write about Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) until she graduated. As a result, you readers learned nothing from me about the naked dorm, the transgender dorm, the queer prom, the... | |
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Jayson @PoliPundit: When College Meets Rock 'N Roll High School — John Leo reviews some of the "sophisticated" practices up at Wesleyan University. Ed Driscoll: I Am Charlotte Leo — John Leo's portrait of campus life is nearly as ugly—and spot-on—as Tom Wolfe's. |
Betsy Newmark: John Leo tells us what his daughter has witnessed in four years at Wesleyan University. [snipped quote] Well, cross that one off the year. |
Imagine there were no cataclysms - what a dull world it would be By / Times of London — Permalink IMAGINE, those of you who have lost nobody in this tsunami, a world where there were no earthquakes. Imagine no hurricanes, no volcanoes, no avalanches, no floods, droughts, landslides or tidal waves. | |
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Arthur Chrenkoff: And this, sadly from somebody on the political right (hat tip: Tim Blair) - Matthew Parris in an opinion piece titled... Tim Blair: Matthew Parris proves me wrong: [snipped quote] You get the feeling Matthew Paris would be more upset if someone stole his office coffee cup. |
Captain Ed: Case in point: London Times columnist Matthew Parris, who asks us to enjoy the tsunami and its aftermath, as natural disasters keep the world from being too boring. Wind Rider: Oh, wait, we're not sociopaths with London newspaper columns. Nevermind. via TB and IP. CB sounds pretty tame at this point. |
The Shadow Internet Wired News — Permalink The Shadow Internet Plus: Just over a year ago, a hacker penetrated the corporate servers at Valve, the game company behind the popular first-person shooter Half-Life. He came away with a beta version of Half-Life 2. "We heard about it," says 23-year-old Frank, a well-connected media pirate. | |
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Jan Haugland: The top of the "pirate" foodchain — Jeff Howe has written an interesting Wired piece about how "the shadow internet"... Orin Kerr: Inside the World of Software Piracy: Wired has a fascinating article on how movie and other software files first appear on peer-to-peer networks. |
Rodney Dill: Behind Internet P2P File Sharing — The Shadow Internet (by Jeff Howe, Wired.com) [snipped quote] An interesting article on P2P file sharing used for pirating music and movies. |
Long-Term Plan Sought For Terror Suspects By / WaPo — Permalink Administration officials are preparing long-range plans for indefinitely imprisoning suspected terrorists whom they do not want to set free or turn over to courts in the United States or other countries, according to intelligence, defense and diplomatic officials. | |
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Arnold P. California: In case you missed it (and my "must-read" blogs haven't mentioned it yet), this from yesterday's Washington Post is appalling. Michael Froomkin: The Bush administration plans to hold them up to forever. Norbizness: By the way, if you've got your "America is #1" foam fingers in storage, break them out and dust them off: The Pentagon... |
Joe Gandelman: To jail for how long or not to jail for how long — that is the question...posed by the administration's proposed plan for long term jailing of terror suspects. Melanie @AmStreet: Long-Term Plan Sought For Terror Suspects By Dana Priest Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, January 2, 2005; Page A01... Jeralyn Merritt: Instead, the military is working with the State Department, to come up with a plan to keep the men imprisoned indefinitely, perhaps for life. |
| Also: Glenn Reynolds, Steve Gilliard, Ann Althouse | |
The Most Overrated Film of the Year By / NYT — Permalink IN the next few weeks you will surely read - perhaps even in the pages of this newspaper - a great many articles about the Oscar race, and about how this year, for various esoteric reasons, no clear front-runner has emerged in the major award categories. | |
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Andrew Sullivan: MOVIE WRAP-UP: When I read this A.O. Scott piece on the over-rating of the movie, "Sideways," I was relieved. |
Ann Althouse: The new "Sideways" backlash. A.O. Scott writes in the NYT that "Sideways" is "the most overrated film of the year." |
Revamping Social Security By / WaPo — Permalink In just 14 years, the nation's Social Security system is projected to reach a day of reckoning: Retiree benefits will exceed payroll tax receipts, and to pay its bills the system will have to begin redeeming billions of dollars in special Treasury bonds that have piled up in its trust fund. | |
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Steve Soto: As a result, Bush's efforts to mislead us again will face tougher sledding than Bush or Rove suspect, especially after... Dave Johnson: From this astonishingly dishonest Washington Post story: "In just 14 years, the nation's Social Security system is... DeLong: Grownup Republican Watch — James Glassman (no, not James Glassman of Lobbyist Central Station and "Dow 36000", but... |
Max B. Sawicky: THAT DAY OF RECKONING Jonathan Weisman of the Washington Post: "In just 14 years, the nation's Social Security system is... Josh Marshall: In Sunday's — Post Jonathan Weisman has a piece on whether or not there's a Social Security 'crisis'. Angry Bear: Just Because It's Cynical Doesn't Mean It's Wrong — Josh Marshall on SSRI: [snipped quote] The next time you read an... |
KERRY SPEAKS: WHAT WENT WRONG Drudge Report — Permalink New York-In an exclusive interview about his presidential campaign and his life now, Sen. John Kerry tells Newsweek, "I'm not going to lick my wounds or hide under a rock or disappear. I'm going to learn. I've had disappointments and I've learned to cope. | |
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Captain Ed: Matt Drudge reports on an upcoming Newsweek article that has John Kerry sounding just about as clueless as the rest of... Nick Gillespie: Yeh, that explains it. Whole thing here. |
Charles Johnson: Kerry: What Went Wrong — John Kerry looks back at what went wrong in his campaign, and comes up with vague platitudes about "not connecting to voters." |
Democrats Split Again Over Party's Agenda By / LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — The truce appears to be expiring among Democrats in Washington. In the immediate aftermath of Sen. John F. Kerry's loss to President Bush in November, Democrats notably avoided the postelection squabbling that's consumed the party after almost all recent presidential races — even those it won. | |
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Betsy Newmark: Ron Brownstein looks at the divisions within the Democratic party between the liberals who arguing over which road to take back from defeat. Orrin Judd: EX-FRIENDS: Democrats Split Again Over Party's Agenda: Liberals and centrists trading magazine salvos reopen disputes on the war and economics. |
Matthew Yglesias: Impact! Fun, I'm mentioned in The LA Times with reference to the Sirota controversies from before the holidays. |
Of course this makes us doubt God's existence By / Telegraph — Permalink The photographs that stay with us, haunt us, are always those of particular faces: one mother's grief, one child's nightmare bewilderment and loneliness. Last week, we learned in Canterbury of the death in the Asian disaster of a 14 -year old from the King's School, with her mother and grandmother. | |
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Oliver Kamm: Tsunami and faith — Another odd response is given on successive days by the Chief Rabbi in The Times and the Archbishop of Canterbury in The Telegraph. |
Glenn Reynolds: UPDATE: Several readers say that Perry's post misrepresents what the Archbishop actually said, though not the headline that accompanied it. |
So What Happened in That Election, Anyhow? By / NYT — Permalink WITH the exception of a few Democratic outliers in Ohio, few people dispute that the election for president is done and decided: President Bush won and John Kerry lost. | |
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Avedon Carol: You know, maybe Democrats are having so much trouble agreeing on why Kerry lost because Kerry never actually lost. Captain Ed: Adam Nagourney reports on the analyses promulgated by party leaders about their loss and what it means for their future:... Betsy Newmark: Adam Nagourney says that the Democrats are still struggling over trying to figure out why Kerry lost. [snipped quote] Yes. |
Armando @DailyKos: Kidding. Actually, Nagourney joins the post-mortem ritual on "What Happened"? Matthew Yglesias: Overdetermination and Election Strategy — I've been known to engage in it myself but the analytic approach on display... Orrin Judd: 8 LITTLE WORDS: So What Happened in That Election, Anyhow? |
Even Einstein Had His Off Days By / NYT — Permalink WE have now entered what is being celebrated as the Einstein Year, marking the centenary of the physicist's annus mirabilis in 1905, when he published three landmark papers - those that proved the existence of the atom, showed the validity of quantum physics and, of course, introduced the world to his theory of special relativity. | |
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Dean Esmay: Great reading all the way through: Even Einstein Had His Off Days. Dig it. |
Orrin Judd: BANG, HE SAID: Even Einstein Had His Off Days (SIMON SINGH, 1/03/04, NY Times) [snipped quote] Why would Newton and Einstein object to proof of Creation? |
A Troubled Haiti Struggles to Gain Its Political Balance By / NYT — Permalink PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Jacques Rafael stood in front of the Moderne Store in downtown Port-au-Prince where his boss, a 52-year-old woman, was recently shot to death by members of the gangs who control this city's slums. | |
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Randy Paul: Let's Acknowledge the Obvious — It's about time to do just that and wake up to the fact that Gerard Latortue's... |
Tyler Cowen: Haiti fact of the day — [snipped quote] The New York Times offers more. |
Washington's New Year War Cry: Party On! By / NYT — Permalink ON the fourth day 'til Christmas, the day that news of the slaughter at the mess tent in Mosul slammed into the evening news, CBS had scheduled a special treat. | |
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Cori Dauber: But they say the first step is admitting you've got a problem, right? |
Steve Clemons: SUNDAY MORNING MUSINGS — Frank Rich captures the point I have been trying for some time to make. |
Archbishop of Canterbury admits: This makes me doubt the existence of God Telegraph — Permalink The Asian tsunami disaster should make all Christians question the existence of God, Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, writes in The Telegraph today. In a deeply personal and candid article, he says "it would be wrong" if faith were not "upset" by the catastrophe which has already claimed more than 150,000 lives. | |
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Perry de Havilland: This disaster makes me doubt the existence of the Archbishop of Canterbury ... no, not really, but that is scarcely less... Stephen Pollard: It's a serious piece and all that by the Archbishop of Canterbury. |
Peter Burnet: WILL NO ONE RID US OF THIS TURBULENT PRIEST? Archbishop of Canterbury admits: This makes me doubt the existence of God. |
The politics of disaster By / Observer — Permalink According to its military junta, Burma is a lucky country. Perhaps in compensation for the years of tyranny and degradation the army has brought, the gods decided that it should be spared. | |
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DeLong: Burma and the Tsunami — Political regimes and disaster relief: "The Observer | Comment | Nick Cohen: The politics of... Ed Cone: Sometimes you wonder if the Times could better use the space it gives to David Brooks by running...I dunno, blank newsprint? |
Chris Bertram: Democracy and natural disaster — Nick Cohen has a very good column in today's Observer about the way in which natural... |
The Meek Shall Inherit the Bill By / NYT — Permalink GIVE President Bush credit for this much: his agenda for the year will force a national debate about the vexing financial problems that loom in the decades ahead. | |
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DeLong: Why the Bush Administration Couldn't Find Anybody Who Wanted to Replace John Snow — Edmund Andrews sums up Bush... |
Steve M.: We are now the United States of Enron. (And there's more on the madnesws of Bush economics here.) |
Americans have their holidays in perspective By / Chicago Sun Times — Permalink ''Are you working over Christmas? '' I asked the waitress at my local diner on Thursday, Dec. 23. Erica looked bewildered. ''No,'' she said. ''We're closed Christmas Day.'' My mistake. | |
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Betsy Newmark: Mark Steyn looks at the contrasting work ethics in America and in Europe. |
Deacon: Merry Christmas, Europe — Mark Steyn shares my quaint view that the Europeans may not be hardworking enough to create a dominant economic power. |
Abbas Offers to Protect Mideast Militants ABCNEWS — Permalink Interim Palestinian leader and presidential front-runner Mahmoud Abbas waves to supporters while speaking during a campaign rally in the Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 1, 2005. Palestinians will go to the polls in elections Jan. 9 to choose a successor to the late Yasser Arafat. | |
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The Big Trunk: Today's news includes reports of the campaigning by the man who will succeed to Arafat's mantle as the leader of the... |
Emperor Darth Misha I: Not that this should come as any surprise to anybody. |