meme orandum
| Fresh brewed news plus stewing views |
|
|
Report: U.S. Conducting Secret Missions Inside Iran Reuters — Permalink WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has been conducting secret reconnaissance missions inside Iran to help identify potential nuclear, chemical and missile targets, The New Yorker magazine reported Sunday. | |
|
McQ: Apparently this is a surprise to some ... A breathless Boston Globe reports that the intreped Seymore Hersh has... James Joyner: U.S. Conducting Secret Missions Inside Iran? U.S. Conducting Secret Missions Inside Iran (Reuters) [snipped quote] Interesting. Orrin Judd: 150,000 GUYS IN IRAQ WITH NOTHING TO DO AFTER THE ELECTION...: Report: U.S. Conducting Secret Missions Inside Iran... |
Kos @DailyKos: Meanwhile, we've decided to cultivate our friendship with the dominant Iraqi shiites by f**king with their Iranian... Lambert @Corrente: Seymour Hersh is doing some reporting: "One former high-level intelligence official told [Seymour Hersh] The New... Jeralyn Merritt: According to the New Yorker's Seymour Hersh, who uncovered the Abu Ghraib prison abuse, the U.S. has been conducting... |
| Also: Susan Madrak, Glenn Reynolds | |
Transcript of Bush Interview WaPo — Permalink Following is the White House transcript of The Washington Post's interview with President Bush, conducted by staff writers Michael A. Fletcher and Jim VandeHei Friday aboard Air Force One en route to Jacksonville, Fla.: | |
|
Steven Taylor: As such, the following is no surprise to me: Via WaPo, we get: Transcript of Bush Interview "The Post: Do you plan to... John Cole: Daily Dump — It looks like Andrew Sullivan has grudgingly recognized that Bush isn't a bigot: "But this piece of sanity... Andrew Sullivan: BUSH ON THE FMA: Here's the money quote: [snipped quote] The Senate is right, of course. |
David Allan Pell: Here are a few excerpts from the interview transcript: Check out this early question from the Post: "The Post: Only... Jeanne D'Arc: It's amazing what happens when you're tired. Tired, huh? Well, at least we know there's some point at which he begins to tell the truth. Norbizness: You can read through the whole Washington Post interview, or just take my word that the condensed answers I developed... |
| Also: Rox Populi, SLZoll, Skippy, Kevin Drum, Gary Farber | |
The Red Sea By / WaPo — Permalink Early in December, with a photographer and his assistant, I drove from Nebraska, near the geographical center of the United States, to the heart of Texas — more than 700 miles, through empty spaces and sprawling cities and all or part of four states. | |
|
Ginny @ChicagoBoyz: von Drehle's Trek through the Great Red Plains — I've spent most of my life along the north/south axis that David von Drehle describes as "The Red Sea" in The Washington Post. Deacon: Journey to a land that [the New York] Time[s] forgot — The Washington Post's David Von Drehle reports on his 700 mile... Glenn Reynolds: TIM "DON'T HATE ME BECAUSE I'M BEAUTIFUL" BLAIR offers an amusing critique of David Von Drehle's redstate report. |
Patrick Ruffini: The apology for 2004 comes in today's pre-inaugural Washington Post magazine, with David Von Drehle's voyage into the heart of Bush Country, entitled "The Red Sea." Tim Blair: LAND OF MYSTERY — The Washington Post's David Von Drehle visits an alien world: "Early in December, with a photographer... Orrin Judd: MR. VON DREHLE, I PRESUME? : The Red Sea: Want to know why George Bush won? |
California professor flunks Kuwaiti's pro-U.S. essay By / Washington Times — Permalink A 17-year-old Kuwaiti student whose uncles were kidnapped and tortured by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's invaders more than a decade ago said his California college political science professor failed him for praising the United States in a final-exam essay last month. | |
|
James Joyner: California Professor Flunks (Awful) Pro-U.S. Essay — Drudge has drawn attention to a piece in today's Washington Times:... Paul @Wizbang: Another Moonbat Academic — Tell me again why tenure is a good idea... California professor flunks Kuwaiti's pro-U.S... |
Steven Taylor: Free Grading — Paul of Wizbang notes the following story from WaTi ("California professor flunks Kuwaiti's pro-U.S. essay") and e-mailed me to see if I would grade the essay. Jonah Goldberg: OUT-FRICK'N-RAGEOUS — If this story holds up, it's a scandal. |
'ISLAMIC HATE' EYED IN SLAYS New York Post — Permalink The father of a murdered New Jersey family was threatened for making anti-Muslim remarks online — and the gruesome quadruple slaying may have been the hateful retaliation, sources told The Post yesterday. | |
|
McQ: we are going to track you down like a chicken and kill you — That was the threat made against a Coptic Christian family... John Derbyshire: CHRISTIAN FAMILY MURDERED — This story is very disturbing. An entire family of Egyptian Copts (i.e. Ed Driscoll: Power Line and Little Green Footballs have the details and some thoughts. They each link to this New York Post story. |
Charles Johnson: Islamic Murder of Coptic Christians in NJ? 'Islamic Hate' Eyed in Slayings. (Thanks to all who emailed about this.) Hindrocket: The New York Post reports: [snipped quote] As we've said many times before, these fanatics cannot be reasoned with or deterred. |
An Alternative Inaugural Address Weekly Standard — Permalink MY FELLOW AMERICANS, I had intended to reach out to all of you and bring a divided nation together. But I changed my mind. America isn't divided by political ethos or ethnic origin. America isn't divided by region or religion. America is divided by jerks. | |
|
Arthur Chrenkoff: And last but not least, P.J. O'Rourke's alternative inauguration address: "My fellow Americans, I had intended to reach out to all of you and bring a divided nation together. Steve Bainbridge: The 10th as Libertarian Urtext — Only PJ O'Rourke could spin the 10th Commandment as a foundational libertarian credo: [snipped quote] Go check out PJ's take on the other 9. |
Scott Sala: Alternative Inaugural Address — P.J. O'Rourke offers an alternative version of the Inaugural Address that the nation will hear this Thursday. |
Gossip Would Do L.A. and The Times Good By / LAT — Permalink An experimental column in which the Los Angeles Times invites outside critics to take their best shot at Southern California's heaviest newspaper. Did you know that Mayor James Hahn's marriage had collapsed? And the kids are living with him, not his wife? | |
|
Roger Ailes: What A Hack Wants — Diminutive dimwit Mickey Kaus thinks a major problem with the Los Angeles Times is that it doesn't print enough gossip. Hugh Hewitt: Mickey's piece is "Gossip Would Do L.A. andThe Times Good." I have also agreed to write for this space, and my first piece there will show up in a week or two. |
Kevin Roderick: In the first installment, Slate blogger Mickey Kaus doesn't urge the paper to be smarter, fairer, deeper, more local,... Matt Welch: Kudos to Michael Kinsley: He has launched an "experimental column" in the Sunday Opinion section entitled "Outside the... |
The Fake Crisis By / Rolling Stone — Permalink To hear George Bush tell it, Social Security is about to go broke. Since his re-election, the president has launched a full-scale campaign to convince the public that the retirement system will run out of money starting in 2018. | |
|
Lambert @Corrente: Looting Social Security: A must-read from Paul Krugman — Gee, you'd think material like this would be in the New York Times or something. |
Chris Bowers: Shorter Krugman — Rolling Stone has a good Q & A out with Krguman about Social Security. |
How Long Is Too Long for the Court's Justices? By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON — Lifetime tenure for judges was "the best expedient which can be devised in any government," Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist No. 78, defending the Constitution's provision for judges to "hold their Offices during good Behavior." | |
|
TChris: The Framers thought so, but Linda Greenhouse reports on the academic argument for proposals that would limit a justice's tenure on the Court. Orrin Judd: OVER EAGAR: How Long Is Too Long for the Court's Justices? |
Jim Lindgren: Here are Greenhouse's opening paragraphs in the NY Times: [snipped quote] The article goes on from our proposal to... |
Swagland By / LAT — Permalink In Swagland, the streets are paved with freebies, from promotional T-shirts, CDs and DVDs, to designer clothing, jewelry and perfume, to spa treatments, Broadway show tickets and suites in five-star hotels, to cellphones, laptops and luxury sports cars on loan. | |
|
Armed Liberal: First, from this Sunday's L.A. Times Magazine: "Swagland. It's not a mythical over-the-rainbow realm, an Eastern European country, a theme park. |
Matt Welch: Them Dang Freelancers and Their Questionable Ethics! |
TIME Poll: PRESIDENT BUSH'S APPROVAL RATING UP TO 53%, UP FROM 49% IN DECEMBER Time — Permalink New York - President Bush's approval rating has risen to 53%, according to the latest TIME poll conducted January 12 and 13. His approval rating is up 4 points from his Dec. 13-14 approval rating of 49%. | |
|
Captain Ed: About That Poll — Time Magazine publishes a new opinion poll today that shows President Bush picking up more support in... Taegan Goddard: Bush Approval Up — President Bush's approval rating has risen to 53%, according to the latest Time poll. |
Glenn Reynolds: THE NEW TIME POLL has some good news for Bush: "President Bush's approval rating has risen to 53%, according to the latest TIME poll conducted January 12 and 13. PoliPundit: Bush JA — Bush Job Approval at 53 percent. |
Bush Says Election Ratified Iraq Policy WaPo — Permalink President Bush said the public's decision to reelect him was a ratification of his approach toward Iraq and that there was no reason to hold any administration officials accountable for mistakes or misjudgments in prewar planning or managing the violent aftermath. | |
|
Talking Dog: The President gave an interview on Air Force One to The Washington Post. (Hat tip for the heads up to Bruce the Veep and the Daou Report.) Kriston @BeggingToDiffer: THE BUCK STOPPED IN NOVEMBER — The Washington Post: [snipped quote] The BTD Forum discussion on the topic is already healthy and charged. Avedon Carol: Speechless — I checked out Memeorandum and the first thing I see is - bwaahaha... hahaha... oh, stop, it hurts:... |
New Donkey: Gay Marriage Cynicism — Another great moment in the Washington Post's interview with the President occurred when he... Taegan Goddard: Meanwhile, in an interview with the Washington Post, Bush defended his Iraq policy saying "the public's decision to... Jeanne D'Arc: Chain of Fools — There's a sucker born every minute. And a bigot. Amazing how often it's the same person. |
| Also: Barbara O'Brien, Rox Populi, Steven Taylor, Gary Farber, Jim Henley, Matthew Yglesias, Lambert @Corrente, Jesse Taylor, Cookie Jill, Steve Bainbridge, The Poor Man, Melanie @AmStreet, James Martin Capozzola, Larre @LeftCoaster, Susan Madrak, Echidne @AmStreet, Michael Froomkin, Oliver Willis, Josh Marshall | |
NBC NEWS TODAY SHOW CO-HOST KATIE COURIC HAS BEEN APPROACHED ABOUT CBS NEWS ANCHOR JOB, NETWORK SOURCE TELLS TIME Time — Permalink New York - Four CBS News staff members lost their jobs last week in the wake of an independent-panel report that found serious flaws in the journalism that led to a 60 Minutes Wednesday story about President Bush's National Guard service. | |
|
Atrios: From Time: "Katie Couric A network source tells TIME the Today Show co-anchor has been approached about the job. TVNewser: Rather Replacement: 'Time' Floats List Of Names — The headline on Time's press release this morning: "NBC News Today... |
Joe Gandelman: And no, Rudy Guiliani has not reccomended Bernard Kerik to fill The Dan Spot...so here are the answers... |
The Vote on Mr. Gonzales WaPo — Permalink DESPITE A POOR performance at his confirmation hearing, Alberto R. Gonzales appears almost certain to be confirmed by the Senate as attorney general. Senators of both parties declared themselves dissatisfied with Mr. Gonzales's lack of responsiveness to questions about his judgments as White House counsel on the detention of foreign prisoners. | |
|
Deacon: Three fallacies about Gonzales — The Washington Post editorial board opposes the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as U.S. Attorney General. |
Kriston @BeggingToDiffer: LEGAL RECOMMENDATIONS OUGHT TO CONSIDER THE LAW — One can see how the fuzziness of American policy on torture emerged... |
U.S. Lowers Expectations for Once-Heralded Iraq Vote By / Reuters — Permalink WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Unable to deliver on its lofty goal of bringing democracy to Iraq through the Jan. 30 elections, the Bush administration is pressing a damage-control campaign to lower expectations for the vote. | |
|
Taegan Goddard: Lowering Expectations for Iraqi Elections — "Unable to deliver on its lofty goal of bringing democracy to Iraq through... |
Kos @DailyKos: Moving the goalposts. Again. Remember when the elections were the end-all, be-all of Iraqi democracy? |
Not Always Diplomatic in Her First Major Post By / LAT — Permalink STANFORD — She helped lead the nation to war and in the process became one of President Bush's closest friends and most intimate advisors. But even before she headed the National Security Council, Condoleezza Rice held a job that required grit, skill, political savvy and a sublime degree of self-confidence: running Stanford University. | |
|
James Martin Capozzola: The Los Angeles Times today reports, in "Not Always Diplomatic in Her First Major Post," by Mark Z. Barabak, that... Susan Madrak: REACHING OUT TO THE WORLD — Via Jim C. over at Rittenhouse, it doesn't look like Condi is going to be any better at... |
Orrin Judd: Not Always Diplomatic in Her First Major Post: Condoleezza Rice, about to become secretary of State, was a divisive figure while at Stanford. |
Pop-Tarts or Freedom? By / NYT — Permalink In the wake of U.S. aid to help Muslim and other victims of the recent tsunami, Colin Powell suggested that maybe, now that the Muslim world had seen "American generosity" and "American values in action," it wouldn't be so hostile to America. | |
|
Cori Dauber: Friedman on anti-Americanism — He's got a great way to compare anti-Americanism in the Muslim world versus... |
John Cole: Must Read Friedman — Go, Tom, Go: [snipped quote] Say it, say it agin, and keep preaching it, because it is the truth. |
Bush says election ratified Iraq policy MSNBC — Permalink President Bush said the public's decision to reelect him was a ratification of his approach toward Iraq and that there was no reason to hold any administration officials accountable for mistakes or misjudgments in prewar planning or managing the violent aftermath. | |
|
Radley Balko: No Accountability — Now I'm depressed: [snipped quote] There was some good news from the Washington Post interview,... |
Edward _: Just when I was starting to like the man a little, he reveals his true character: "President Bush said the public's... |
Breaking the Code By / NYT — Permalink One afternoon late last month, I paid a visit to the offices of Americans for Tax Reform, the conservative lobbying outfit headed by Grover Norquist. Though Norquist ranks among the Republican Party's leading operators, neither he nor his organization is quite yet a household name. | |
|
Matthew Yglesias: Ergo, "Breaking The Code" about tax reform la Bush: Read More... [snipped quote] One criticism is that unlike Jonathan... |
Nathan Newman: As this long and indepth analysis emphasizes: "In theoretical terms, Bush's cuts have brought the United States tax code... |
Damage seen to ancient Babylon By / AP — Permalink LONDON — US-led troops using the ancient Iraqi city of Babylon as a base have damaged and contaminated artifacts dating back thousands of years in one of the most important archeological sites in the world, the British Museum said yesterday. | |
|
Andrew Olmsted: ETCETERA American troops using remnants of the ancient city of Babylon have apparently caused damage to the relics left at the site. |
Juan Cole: In another blow to the US image in Iraq, archeologists have made an initial assessment that the US military damaged the site of ancient Babylon while using it as a military base. |
A Question of Numbers By / NYT — Permalink In 1938, the Social Security Act was only three years old, but its future was already very much in doubt. Conservatives claimed it would bankrupt the nation, and independent critics argued that the way it was financed amounted to ''financial hocus-pocus,'' as one editorial in The New York Times put it. | |
|
Kevin Drum: Roger Lowenstein tells us today in the New York Times Magazine: "David Langer, an independent actuary who made a study... Nathan Newman: NY Times: SocSec Immigration Projections Off — Emphasizing one of my favorite themes on social security, the NY Times... |
Robert Prather: Social security history — Though the author's sympathies lean heavily towards doing nothing about SS, there's an excellent history of the program at the NYT. |
The Critical Battle for Iraq's Energy By / WaPo — Permalink BAGHDAD — The armed men waited until at least 10 tanker trucks were in line outside the huge refinery in the Sunni Triangle city of Baiji, a major source of gasoline for Iraq. | |
|
Andrew Olmsted: RECONSTRUCTION & THE ECONOMY The insurgency is having greater success disrupting Iraq's oil production (link requires... |
David Adesnik: LOSING THE OIL WAR: The WaPo has an important article about the rising effectiveness of insurgent attacks on the oil industry in Iraq. |
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? NYT — Permalink Pittsburgh — THIS is what we should do about Social Security: At the same time we acknowledge that it is the most successful domestic program in American history, we should also admit that Social Security, in its present form, is unsustainable. | |
|
Ellen Dana Nagler: Here's what O'Neill proposes...In a massive display of chutzpah (and what feels like illegality, though it probably... |
Kevin Drum: Here's what he thinks we need: [snipped quote] O'Neill doesn't provide many details, but he does say that everyone over 35 should be left in the current system. |
For Inauguration in Wartime, a Lingering Question of Tone By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 - Inaugurations are always balancing acts: part coronation, part celebration of democracy, part touchdown dance in the end zone. But they become even trickier during times of war, particularly when television images of dancers in black tie can be instantly juxtaposed with soldiers in body armor. | |
|
Gary Farber: ALSO: "To some extent, the criticism of inaugural extravagance reflects the longstanding concern about turning the president into royalty. |
Ann Althouse: A professor who has read every single presidential inaugural speech reports that he has not found even a single example of something written to be humorous. |
Canada minister in pizza scandal BBC — Permalink Canada's immigration minister Judy Sgro has resigned over allegations that she agreed to help a pizza shop owner avoid deportation in return for free food. Harjit Singh says he delivered free pizza and garlic bread to Ms Sgro and up to 16 election campaign volunteers. | |
|
Michelle Malkin: From BBC News: "Canada's immigration minister Judy Sgro has resigned over allegations that she agreed to help a pizza shop owner avoid deportation in return for free food. Glenn Reynolds: "Canadian Minister in Pizza Scandal." You don't see headlines like that every day. UPDATE: Some background on this scandal from Damian Penny. |
Gary Farber: Those wacky Canadian scandals! [snipped quote] This is what happens when you include no cheesy bread, Harjit! |
Column One: The demographic bomb is a dud By / Jerusalem Post — Permalink For the past generation, Israel has found itself engaged in post-modern warfare. Whereas Arab armies have proved themselves in five wars to be no match for the IDF on the battlefield, our enemies over the last 20 years, since the IDF withdrawal from most of... | |
|
Jonathan Gewirtz: Demographic Speculations — Via Powerline comes this remarkable Caroline Glick column about how the Palestinian Authority has been cooking its population numbers. |
Deacon: As Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post reports, a team of American and Israeli researchers presented a study of the... |
There are real Nazi lovers here: the IRA By / Telegraph — Permalink Poor Prince Harry. How could he have foreseen that the kitsch Nazi imagery that has made The Producers such a smash-hit in the West End would cause such ructions when he playfully adopted it himself? | |
|
Tim Blair: NEXT TO APOLOGISE: MEL BROOKS — Kevin Myers on Prince Hitler: [snipped quote] Demands for Harry's shame-faced apology are insanely excessive. |
Orrin Judd: IT'S ONLY FUNNY WHEN WE USE IT: There are real Nazi lovers here: the IRA (Kevin Myers, 16/01/2005, Sunday Telegraph) "Poor Prince Harry. |
Social Security Enlisted to Push Its Own Revision By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 - Over the objections of many of its own employees, the Social Security Administration is gearing up for a major effort to publicize the financial problems of Social Security and to convince the public that private accounts are needed as part of any solution. | |
|
Josh Marshall: People are rightly abuzz about the report today in the New York Times that the White House is using the Social Security... Avedon Carol: Via Seeing the Forest, which also reports on an even bigger propaganda scandal than the Armstrong Williams story: Social Security Enlisted to Push Its Own Revision. Hilzoy @ObsidianWings: Your Tax Dollars At Work — From the New York Times, via everywhere: [snipped quote] This is our money, which is meant to be spent on legitimate government functions. |
Joe Gandelman: Social Security Adminstration To Be Used To Hype Proprosed Program Changes — Talk about an adminstration constantly... Cookie Jill: our taxpayer dollars hard at work... education department pays for talking head to praise 'no child left behind'... Steve Soto: Guess what Bush is ordering the Social Security Administration (SSA) to do? Spread disinformation and scare people. |
| Also: Chris Bowers, Dave Johnson, Orrin Judd | |
Graner Gets 10 Years in Iraq Prison Abuse By / AP — Permalink FORT HOOD, Texas - Army Spc. Charles Graner Jr., who grinned in photos of Iraqi prisoners being sexually humiliated but told jurors, "I didn't enjoy what I did there," was sentenced Saturday to 10 years behind bars in the first court-martial stemming from the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. | |
|
Blackfive: Should've Been Fifteen... ...rather than ten. Graner, a freakin' disgrace to the uniform and the ring leader of the abuse at Abu Ghraib, gets a mid-point sentence. Jeralyn Merritt: Charles Graner: Admits Criminal Activity, Gets 10 Years enlarge The jury has sentenced Charles Graner to ten years in prison. |
Jan Haugland: Abu Ghraib "ringleader" gets 10 years Charles Graner received 10 years in prison, a dishonorable discharge, was demoted... Greg Ransom: GRANER gets ten years. BLACKFIVE is not happy. |
Notes on blogs By / Houston Chronicle — Permalink Web logs, or blogs, are the hot new medium for commentary. So many have sprung up that one can only tend to a narrow selection or a digest of highlights. I have sampled a few blogs, but enjoyed fewer. | |
|
James Martin Capozzola: James Howard Gibbons, who fortunately for all Houstonians carries around the rather humiliating title of "interim... Byron LaMasters: At least that's what Houston Chronicle is calling their commentary on blogging - which is on the web, and not a log (as there is just one post). |
Joe Gandelman: Ahh, To Be Clueless, Arrogant And Writing For The Houston Chronicle — Here's yet another mainstream media take on blogs... Charles Kuffner: It's worse than I thought — Tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it beyond any doubt for the whole fricking world to see. |
Rising Violence and Fear Drive Iraq Campaigners Underground By / NYT — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 15 - The threat of death hung so heavily over the election rally, held this week on the fifth floor of the General Factory for Vegetable Oil, that the speakers refused to say whether they were candidates at all. | |
|
Taegan Goddard: The New York Times says Iraq is "a country simultaneously set to embark on an American-backed political experiment while... Armando @DailyKos: Iraq's Stealth Election — The violence is so rampant in Iraq, that the candidates cannot have public rallies, instead... |
Juan Cole: Dexter Filkin of the NYT reports on the so-called election campaign in Iraq. |
. . . at the Democrats' Peril By / WaPo — Permalink Did you catch the score from the Senate confirmation hearing on Alberto Gonzales? Latinos 1, liberals 0. I say that because my liberal friends were hoping that Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee would treat Gonzales like a punching bag, and that didn't happen. | |
|
Robert Tagorda: After considering these political discomforts, check out this Washington Post op-ed by Ruben Navarrette (who, interestingly enough, is a fellow KSG guy). Julia @AmStreet: Oh, this is tasteful — Shorter Ruben Navarrette Jr. on the Gonzales hearings: People who support the constitution and oppose torture (aka liberals) lost and hispanics won. |
Betsy Newmark: Ruben Navarette explains why the liberals on the Judiciary Committee went soft on Alberto Gonzales. Orrin Judd: DEMOCRATS VS. MINORITIES: ... at the Democrats' Peril (Ruben Navarrette Jr., January 15, 2005, Washington Post)... |
Agency Running Social Security to Push Change By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 - Over the objections of many of its own employees, the Social Security Administration is gearing up for a major effort to publicize the financial problems of Social Security and to persuade the public that private accounts are needed as part of any solution. | |
|
Matthew Yglesias: Today's report in The New York Times that the Social Security Administration will be transformed from its legitimate... Kos @DailyKos: SS funds to, er, destroy SS — Hmm, how to fund a massive disinformation campaign to destroy the government's most popular program? |
Jim D: From the New York Times Via Atrios (who, lo, says the same thing, but it's worth repeating). Atrios: Meanwhile — Bush is spending your social security funds to convince you that he needs to kill the program. Look! |
Blogging for Dollars By / Slate — Permalink Journalists think blogging makes everyone one of them, but not everyone wants to be a journalist. That's the lesson from a long-running discussion among prominent political bloggers that spilled into the pages of the Friday Wall Street Journal. | |
|
Ann Althouse: Anyway, it was interesting to go back to that December 20th post of mine, which predicts something that came true... Glenn Reynolds: MORE: Chris Suellentrop has an interesting piece on the Kos/Teachout affair over at Slate. Kevin Raybould: Sullentop Writes Something Stupid — Sullentop writes something incredibly stupid "And while it's true that his role as... |
Charles Johnson: Kosgate in Slate — At Slate, Chris Suellentrop says Daily Kos should hang. (Hat tip: Allah.) Moulitsas' crime isn't taking money from Howard Dean. Nathan Newman: Media Idiots: The "Kos-MyDD Affair" — Atrios is right to label Chris Sullentrop a wanker for this ridiculous take on... Hugh Hewitt: UPDATE: Slate's Chris Suellentrop writes on the Kos/Armstrong affair, as does Ed Cone, Tim Blair, and of course Kos himself. |
| Also: John Cole, Dave Johnson, Kos @DailyKos, Blackfive, Digby, Matthew Yglesias, Atrios, Tim Blair | |
Singles' Sex No Longer a Va. Crime By / WaPo — Permalink The state Supreme Court yesterday struck down as unconstitutional a 19th-century Virginia law making it a crime for unmarried couples to have sex. "We find no principled way to conclude . . . that the Virginia statute criminalizing intercourse between... | |
|
Chris Lawrence: Virginia: now for unwed lovers too — Amber Taylor and Glenn Reynolds are among those noting that Virginia's Supreme... Glenn Reynolds: VIRGINIA'S FORNICATION LAW has been struck down: [snipped quote] About time. |
KJL: Yesterday, the state supreme court there struck down an anti-fornication law that was still on the books. |
Election Turnout in 2004 Was Highest Since 1968 By / WaPo — Permalink The final numbers are in — and turnout in the 2004 presidential election, it seems, was a bit more impressive than previously believed. The Committee for the Study of the American Electorate reported yesterday that more than 122 million people voted in... | |
|
Joe Gandelman: The 2004 Election Had A Monster Turnout — If you suspected it wasn't business as usual for most voters during the fiery... Karl-T: Michelman Won't Seek DNC Post — Buried in this otherwise interesting article discussing the 60.7% national turnout in... |
Steven Taylor: Election '04: Final Tallies — Via WaPo: Election Turnout in 2004 Was Highest Since 1968 "The final numbers are in -... |
Snake-eyes on Wall St. By / NY Daily News — Permalink Hot-shot Bank of America gaming analyst Andrew Susser made a losing bet when he put an unconventional cover on his latest research report. The former director of high yield research, whose report ruffled the feathers of an increasingly straight-laced Wall... | |
|
Mark Kleiman: In a story about what seems to have been a silly decision by the Bank of America to fire a bond analyst for offending... |
Mindles H. Dreck: If this is all there is to the case, Bank of America is being silly: [snipped quote] The linked article has the only image I could find. |
New Photos Show Titan Has Orange Surface By / AP — Permalink DARMSTADT, Germany (AP) - New, refined pictures from Saturn's moon Titan released Saturday show a pale orange surface covered by a thin haze of methane and what appears to be a methane sea complete with islands and a mist-shrouded coastline. | |
|
Chris Bowers: However, it does take a society open to the possibility and wonder of scientific discovery to produce achievements like... Pejman Yousefzadeh: Fascinating: "New, refined pictures from Saturn's moon Titan released Saturday show a pale orange surface covered by a... |
Joe Gandelman: A Scientific Discovery That Made Scientists Gasp — People often think scientists are jaded when they make a new... |
Whistleblower on FBI vindicated By / Washington Times — Permalink Accusations by an FBI contract linguist fired after complaining about suspected security breaches and misconduct in the bureau's post-September 11 foreign language translation program "had some basis in fact" and are supported by documents and other witnesses, a report said yesterday. | |
|
Daniel Drezner: Ted Bridis reports for the Associated Press: [snipped quote] That assessment of Simonds raises a point I've made in the... |
Glenn Reynolds: MORE EVIDENCE OF INEPTITUDE IN HIGH PLACES: [snipped quote] This doesn't make her charges true, I guess, but it does make the FBI look bad. |
Three associate justices, one judge sworn in By / al.com — Permalink MONTGOMERY - Three new associate justices of the Alabama Supreme Court and one judge of the Court of Civil Appeals took oaths of office Friday in ceremonies at Troy University's Davis Theatre. | |
|
Lambert @Corrente: Three grafs down: "0Newly elected Alabama Supreme Court Justice Tom] Parker said Thomas told him a judge should be... Michael DeBow: Roy Moore update: The inauguration of four new Alabama appellate judges yesterday featured an appearance by the ex-chief... |
Steve Dillard: Indeed, Justice Parker—it makes me sick to my stomach that he holds such a title—had the disgraced Moore give him the... |
Brigades murder 2 'collaborators' By / Jerusalem Post — Permalink A young Palestinian man suspected of "collaboration" with Israel was executed on Friday in a public square in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus. Eyewitnesses said Mahmoud Mansour, 23, was brought to the center of the camp by gunmen belonging to Fatah's... | |
|
Charles Johnson: Abu Mazen's Death Squads — The so-called "armed wing" of Mahmoud Abbas/Abu Mazen's Fatah party, the Al Aqsa Martyrs'... |
The Big Trunk: Due process, Arafatistan-style — It appears that the routinization of murder in Arafatistan continues without notice or... |
The Crises Crisis CBS News — Permalink (CBS) This Against the Grain commentary was written by CBSNews.com's Dick Meyer. What a relief! The Iraqi WMD crisis is over. I feel safer. What about you? This week we learned that the Iraq Survey Group, the outfit that was hunting for Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, quietly stopped looking sometime in January. | |
|
Kevin Drum: After several hundred words acknowledging the Bush administration's relentless use of phony crises to whip the public... |
Josh Marshall: The latest from — TPM False Equivalence Watch (TM). Today from CBS News ... [snipped quote] Nice try. Let's address two points. |
The Best Care Anywhere By / Washington Monthly — Permalink Quick. When you read "veterans hospital," what comes to mind? Maybe you recall the headlines from a dozen years ago about the three decomposed bodies found near a veterans medical center in Salem, Va. Two turned out to be the remains of patients who had wandered months before. | |
|
Matthew Yglesias: As Phillip Longman writes in The Washington Monthly we should be looking at more successful public-sector health programs, like the Veterans' Health Administration. |
Jim D: Models for health care reform — The Washington Monthly's cover story this month suggests the VHA as a model for health care reform. |
Charleston again ranked 'best-mannered city' AP — Permalink CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) — For the 10th straight year, Charleston tops the unofficial list of the nation's best-mannered cities. "The people ... have such an affection for their city," said etiquette expert Marjabelle Young Stewart, who started compiling her annual list 28 years ago and released the latest installment Friday. | |
|
Jack Cluth: Charleston again ranked 'best-mannered city' Over the past few weeks, Houston has been recognized as the fattest and now as the #9 Most Polite City. |
Jeff Quinton: Charleston tops list of best-mannered cities CNN/AP "For the 10th straight year, Charleston tops the unofficial list of the nation's best-mannered cities. |
Ideology, Sure, but the Democrats Want a Winner, Too By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 - Howard Dean announced his candidacy for Democratic National Committee chairman declaring that the Democratic Party need not embrace Republican ideas to win back power. | |
|
Taegan Goddard: Winning Trumps Ideology — "For all the talk about ideas and issues by symbols of two sides of the Democratic spectrum,... Orrin Judd: Ideology, Sure, but the Democrats Want a Winner, Too (ADAM NAGOURNEY, 1/15/05, NY Times) [snipped quote] Political parties that don't think ideas matter tend not to do well. |
PoliPundit: But if I read one more article about the various clowns running for this offfice, I'll scream! Enough already! |
Empty Nests, and Hearts By / NYT — Permalink Over the past 30 years, the fraction of women over 40 who have no children has nearly doubled, to about a fifth. According to the Gallup Organization, 70 percent of these women regret that they have no kids. | |
|
Matthew Yglesias: It Takes Two — Give David Brooks credit for tackling the work/family issue and for being open to the idea that the... |
Orrin Judd: INCENTIVIZING THE FAMILY: Empty Nests, and Hearts: Women now have more choices in their lives, but the choices don't extend to how they want to sequence their lives. |
46 Palestinian Election Officials Resign By / AP — Permalink RAMALLAH, West Bank - Forty-six members of the Palestinian election commission, including top managers, resigned Saturday, saying they were pressured by Mahmoud Abbas' campaign and intelligence officials to abruptly change voting procedures during the Jan. 9 presidential poll. | |
|
Captain Ed: Palestinian Elections Rigged: Workers — In a further confirmation of the corruption and machinations behind the... |
Charles Johnson: Palestinian Election Farce — Abu Mazen's Fatah goons forced last-minute changes in Palestinian election procedures: 46 Palestinian Election Officials Resign. |
Political Bias? What Political Bias? By / Weekly Standard — Permalink Johnson posted his finding on littlegreenfootballs.com at 1:24 p.m., September 9. This was nearly irrefutable evidence that a supposed 1972 memo had actually been typed on a computer using modern word-processing software. | |
|
Betsy Newmark: John Podhoretz doesn't buy much at all in the CBS report and thinks it was a waste of money and time to come up with very few substantive conclusions. |
The Big Trunk: John Podhoretz portrays Mary Mapes as the victim of the Big Con in "Political bias? What political bias?" |
Laura Bush Defends Gala in Time of War and Disaster By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 - With less than a week to go until her husband's second inauguration, Laura Bush on Friday defended the decision to hold the $40 million celebration as planned despite a war abroad and the tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean. | |
|
Gary Farber: Still, the White House employs people who are supposed to advise and prevent this sort of gaffish statement. |
Julia @AmStreet: oh, that's so cute how you think that. You know how I love the first lady, but she's a little confused. |
Centrists steer clear of Social Security plans By / The Hill — Permalink A group of Senate Democratic and Republican centrists is maintaining a comfortable distance from controversial White House efforts to reform Social Security — even as the chamber emerges as the place where President Bush's Social Security proposals will be forged. | |
|
Joe Gandelman: Indeed, according to The Hill, right now the administration's plan is in trouble terms of support from the Democratic... Josh Marshall: From The Hill ("Centrists steer clear of Social Security plans") ... [snipped quote] Exactly. |
Steve Soto: Yet, a story in The Hill Wednesday reflects that Bush is having a hard time getting any Senate moderates of either party... |
The CBS Whitewash By / Weekly Standard — Permalink LAST SEPTEMBER, CBS NEWS president Andrew Heyward promised a full accounting within "weeks, not months" of his network's attempt to pass off as genuine four fraudulent memos about President Bush's long-ago service in the Texas Air National Guard. | |
|
The Big Trunk: Jonathan Last elaborates on his previous indictment of the report in "The CBS whitewash." |
Greg Ransom: JONATHAN LAST — WHITEWASH, WHITEWASH, WHITEWASH. No, you haven't read this all before. |
Zell Was Right NRO — Permalink Last year, then-Sen. Zell Miller, a Georgia Democrat, wrote a scathing critique of the Democratic Party called A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat. A quick quiz — in the book, Miller said which of the following things: | |
|
Ed Driscoll: Read More As Rich Lowry observes today in National Review, it was accurately forecast by Zell Miller in his 2003 book,... |
Glenn Reynolds: LANNY DAVIS: Zell Miller was right. |
Social Security, solvency and political spin By / MSNBC — Permalink In its 70-year history, Social Security has faced dire predictions, including the threat of insolvency. In the mid-1970s and again in the 1980s, the program faced staggering projections of short-term and long-term deficits and came within months of depleting its reserve funds. | |
|
Steve Soto: MSNBC Tags Bush For Social Security Hype And Fear — [snipped quote] —Ronald Reagan Read this slapdown of Bush's scare tactics in selling privatization by of all places MSNBC. |
Josh Marshall: A pretty decent account of the dishonesty of President Bush's Social Security 'crisis' fear-mongering from MSNBC. |
Babylon wrecked by war Guardian — Permalink Troops from the US-led force in Iraq have caused widespread damage and severe contamination to the remains of the ancient city of Babylon, according to a damning report released today by the British Museum. | |
|
Steve Soto: U. S. Forces Trash Ancient City Of Babylon — Looks like in our rush to topple Saddam and take over Iraq, we managed to trash the ancient city of Babylon. |
Cookie Jill: [quote]The report was prepared by the national intelligence center, an "in-house cia think tank," - latimes via csmonitor ...[end quote] |