meme orandum
| A newfangled news tangle |
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Iraqi forces seize 131 suspects in raid Reuters — Permalink Iraqi soldiers, backed by US helicopters, are reported to have seized 131 suspects in a dawn raid on insurgents planning attacks on the holy city of Kerbala. The Defence Ministry says troops also retrieved tonnes of explosives. | |
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Captain Ed: Iraqis Grab 131 Terrorists Targeting Kerbala — Iraqi security forces have demonstrated their increasing effectiveness... Ace: 131 Terrorists Seized In Joint Iraqi/American Raid — Good news: "Iraqi soldiers, backed by US helicopters, are... |
Betsy Newmark: More good news about the Iraqi defense forces. |
Device lets you out-Fox your TV By / AP — Permalink It's not that Sam Kimery objects to the views expressed on Fox News Channel. The creator of the "Fox Blocker" contends the network is not news at all. Kimery says he has sold about 100 of the little silver bits of metal that screw into the back of most televisions, allowing people to filter Fox News from their sets. | |
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Arthur Chrenkoff: Today's Person Getting Far Too Much Attention Than They Deserve...is Sam Kimery, the creator of a cute little... Roger L. Simon: Here's an example of someone who is technologically advanced (well, at least as much as your cable guy), but philosophically retarded. |
Taegan Goddard: The Fox Blocker is a new $8.95 device that lets you block Fox News from your television set, the AP reports. |
'This time Mugabe is going for sure. The world is watching us' Times of London — Permalink AS THE drums sound at the Chimanimani Golf Club, a shy-looking white woman appears before several thousand jubilant supporters. Her husband is in jail. Her farm has been seized. She has no record as a politician, and President Mugabe wants her out of the country. | |
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A.M. Mora y Leon: UPDATE: The Times of London gives us more on the political situation - they say the thug is on his last legs. |
Betsy Newmark: However, there is an opposition in Zimbabwe and some very brave people who are standing for election and coming out to rallies. |
Tories plan to beat 'bias' by bringing in bloggers By / Times of London — Permalink THE Conservative Right is to turn to new American campaigning techniques and the internet to try to revive the party and overcome what it sees as opposition from the metropolitan Establishment. | |
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Joe Gandelman: England Learns From The U.S. by Joe Gandelman Mainstream media in England, WATCH OUT: "The Conservative Right is to... |
Ace: British Conservatives Seek New Political Weapon: Bloggers — But it seems to be a top-down sort of thing — official... |
Albania stands with U.S. in Iraq By / Washington Times — Permalink The announcement several days ago Albania — a small country with limited resources — was sending an additional 50 well-trained troops to Iraq came as a surprise to some observers. But it really should not have surprised anyone. | |
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Hindrocket: , Fatos Tarifa, explains why his country has contributed 120 well-trained fighting men to the allied effort in Iraq:... Gary Farber: THANK GOD! Albania stands with U.S. in Iraq. Where would we be without them? |
Betsy Newmark: Who would think that Albania would have become a country dedicated to spreading democracy? Orrin Judd: DOING ERNIE PANTUSO PROUD: Albania stands with U.S. in Iraq (Fatos Tarifa, March 27, 2005, Washington Times) [snipped quote] Which makes it worth at least 120 France's. |
Archbishop Seeks Zimbabwe Leader's Ouster By / AP — Permalink HARARE, Zimbabwe — A prominent Roman Catholic Archbishop and outspoken critic of President Robert Mugabe called Sunday for peaceful street protests aimed at overthrowing the longtime ruler, saying this week's parliamentary elections are certain to be rigged. | |
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Damian Penny: This is the holiest time of year for the Christian faith, so it's a good time to salute the Catholic Archbishop of... |
A.M. Mora y Leon: UPDATE: The momentum builds - Zimbabwe's bishop is urging huge street demonstrations with the explicit aim of ousting the thug. |
Al-Qaida Claims to Kill Iraqi Official By / AP — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq - Al-Qaida in Iraq released a video Sunday claiming to show the murder of an Interior Ministry official, while debate raged about religion's place in Iraq's much-anticipated new government as lawmakers were summoned to their second session. | |
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Andrew Olmsted: TOP TOPICS The makeup of the new Iraqi government remains uncertain as the winners of the January elections continue to... |
Armando @DailyKos: Weekend in Iraq — Iraq continues to demonstrate a lack of stability and security: "Al-Qaida in Iraq released a video... |
BRAND THIS By / New York Press — Permalink "Terror, terror, terror, terror, terror. I would say to John, 'Let me put it to you this way. The Lord Almighty, or Allah, whoever, if he came to every kitchen table in America and said, "Look, I have a Faustian bargain for you, you choose. | |
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Atrios: Blow Some S**t Up — Taibbi's NY Press article on "National Security Democrats" is worth reading. |
Ezra Klein: Moderation For Real — NYPress' Matt Taibbi gets it just about right re: the "National Security Democrats":... |
For Army Recruiters, a Hard Toll From a Hard Sell By / NYT — Permalink The Army's recruiters are being challenged with one of the hardest selling jobs the military has asked of them in American history, and many say the demands are taking a toll. A recruiter in New York said pressure from the Army to meet his recruiting goals during a time of war has given him stomach problems and searing back pain. | |
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Cori Dauber: Watch the Numbers — The Times has an article about how miserable Army recruiters are. Fair enough, it can't be an easy job. Gary Farber: I've read plenty about the ever-increasing problems with Army recruiting, and likely so have you, but the details have become appalling. |
James Joyner: For Army Recruiters, a Hard Toll From a Hard Sell [snipped quote] One suspects George Patton would slap these guys silly with a glove. |
Bush's Back-and-Forth Reflects Rift in Party By / WaPo — Permalink WACO, Tex., March 26 — He flew halfway across the country in a vain effort to save her life, but in the week since, President Bush has retreated back to his ranch and remained largely out of sight as the nation wrestled with the great moral issues surrounding the fate of Terri Schiavo. | |
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Gary Farber: THE MIRACLE OF THE PASSIVE VOICE. What would we ever do without it? [snipped quote] Yes, these things just "happened" to the President. Lambert @Corrente: Bush: "Terrri who?" Guess that whole flip-flopping thing was just another little bit of WPS (Winger Projection Syndrome), eh? |
Barbara O'Brien: Meanwhile, our President is showing resolve and moral courage in the face of roiling public disagreement by hiding out on his ranch. |
New Details on F.B.I. Aid for Saudis After 9/11 By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, March 26 - The episode has been retold so many times in the last three and a half years that it has become the stuff of political legend: in the frenzied days after Sept. 11, 2001, when some flights were still grounded, dozens of well-connected... | |
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Michael Froomkin: New Details on F.B.I. Aid for Saudis After 9/11: The F.B.I. gave personal airport escorts to two prominent Saudi... Cori Dauber: Because new documents have been released — and given to the New York Times — on the question of Saudis leaving the country in the days immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks. |
Avedon Carol: Every few months the NYT likes to drop a hint that Michael Moore was right about those Saudis flying when the rest of us couldn't. |
DeLay Family Outcome Different From Schiavo's LAT — Permalink CANYON LAKE, Texas — A family tragedy unfolding in a Texas hospital during the fall of 1988 was a private ordeal — without judges, emergency sessions of Congress or the raging debate outside Terri Schiavo's Florida hospice. | |
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Zoe Kentucky: Tom DeLay & the Right-to-Die — If you haven't read this elsewhere already, in 1988 Tom DeLay and his family stopped... LeanLeft: A Private Matter — Filed under: Politics Church & State Culture — Kevin Tom Delay, unsurprisingly, is shown once... Charles Kuffner: For further reading on the Schiavo case and DeLay's involvement, try this LA Times story, which was mentioned in less detail in the book "The Hammer". |
John Cole: DeLay — The DeLay Dilemma: "A family tragedy that unfolded in a Texas hospital during the fall of 1988 was a private... Avedon Carol: DeLay's Own Tragic Crossroads: The patient then was a 65-year-old drilling contractor, badly injured in a freak accident at his home. Barbara O'Brien: On to more muddle-headedness: The Los Angeles Times reports that in 1988, Tom DeLay decided, with other members of his family, to end his father's life support and let him die. |
| Also: Patterico, Michelle Malkin, Joe Gandelman, Tim Dunlop, Oliver Willis, Taegan Goddard, Roger Ailes, Ezra Klein, Kieran Healy, Atrios, Lambert @Corrente, Oliver @LiquidList | |
GOP Governors Fight Tax Limits By / WaPo — Permalink DENVER — Gov. Bill Owens (R) has been crisscrossing the country for years promoting the virtues of this state's strict constitutional limits on government spending. He has repeatedly urged other states to adopt restrictions of their own, based on Colorado's "Taxpayer Bill of Rights" amendment, known here as TABOR. | |
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C3 @Centerfield: No lip reading required — The Washington Post today has an interesting article on the budget struggles of Colorado Governor Bill Owen. |
Atrios: IOKIYAR — Typical: DENVER — Gov. Bill Owens (R) has been crisscrossing the country for years promoting the virtues of... |
She's the other woman in Michael Schiavo's heart By / St. Petersburg Times — Permalink They met by chance at a dentist's office. Neither was searching for love, friends say. She had been through a divorce. | |
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Abel Harding: And, finally, the St. Petersburg Times introduces us to Jodi Centonze, the other woman in Michael Schiavo's life. |
Jack Cluth: Fla. officials' attempt, fail to seize Schiavo She's the other woman in Michael Schiavo's heart Now that Terri Schiavo... |
Amazing Grace www.AndrewSullivan.com — Permalink She went out for cigarettes. That's my favorite detail of the story of Elizabeth Ashley Smith. This was not a noble calling; it wasn't even a noble errand. But the craving for nicotine at 2 o'clock in the morning led Smith into the loaded gun of one Brian Nichols, a man who had already raped one woman and murdered four men. | |
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Ezra Klein: Faith, Not God — Andrew Sullivan's unsurprisingly saccharine piece about the Ashley Smith case symbolizes everything I love and hate about religion. |
Hugh Hewitt: MarkDRoberts provides the lyrics for the gretest anthem of the day and Andrew Sullivan has a wonderful essay, as does Pastor Sensing, and Wretchard. |
It's not your father's America any more By / Seattle Post-Intelligencer — Permalink This country is becoming more unrecognizable with each passing day. The government, we've learned recently, now packages the news. It provides television stations with hundreds of video news releases made up to resemble actual news reports that give us... | |
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Avedon Carol: In The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, It's not your father's America any more: We could probably endure all of this if it... |
Pessimist @LeftCoaster: It may be that the opposition to the regression of America back to the Gilded Age [Thanks, Dave!] will only be of... |
Depressed Annan close to quitting over UN scandals By / Times of London — Permalink KOFI ANNAN, the United Nations secretary-general, is said to be struggling with depression and considering his future. Colleagues have reported concerns about Annan ahead of an official report this week that will examine his son Kojo's connection to the controversial Iraqi oil for food scheme. | |
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Captain Ed: Kofi Bumming Out Over His Incompetence — The London Times informs us today that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has... Kevin Aylward: Kofi Annan Said To Be Close To Quitting — Britain's Sunday Times reports:KOFI ANNAN, the United Nations... Scott Sala: No Sympathy — Depression? Gimme a break. There will be no sympathy for Kofi Annan. His resignation will be celebrated on these pages. |
Betsy Newmark: According to the London Times, Kofi Annan is depressed and thinking about resigning from his post as Secretary General. Charles Johnson: Depressed Annan Close to Quitting — The Sunday Times reports that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is depressed and close to quitting over the UN's many scandals. Orrin Judd: Depressed Annan close to quitting over UN scandals (Sarah Baxter, 3/27/05, Times of London) [snipped quote] Do sine curves keep going down or do they turn back up? |
| Also: Michelle Malkin | |
Shirley Williams: He was the embodiment of democratic socialism Independent — Permalink Jim Callaghan wasthe embodiment of British democratic socialism. He was, as Peter Hennessy memorably put it, "a man of 1945". To become an adult in 1945 meant to be brought up during the Depression, experiencing at first or second-hand soul-destroying unemployment and often miserable poverty. | |
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Gary Farber: There are precisely two entries on Google for this phrase, one being the source that sent me looking to find out more clearly what it is. |
Harry @HarrysPlace: There is a sympathetic but not sentimental look back at his political life from Shirley Williams in the Independent on Sunday. |
They're everyday believers By / Seattle Times — Permalink Jim Roths of Sumner, who attends Redmond's Overlake Christian Church, left a high-level corporate position to move with his family to Central Asia to work as a missionary for eight years. | |
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Joe Gandelman: The Seattle Times profiles some church goers and notes: "Three people from different walks of life, each with different ways of practicing their faith. |
Orrin Judd: AS BEST WE CAN: They're everyday believers (Janet I. Tu, 3/27/05, Seattle Times) "Jim Roths of Sumner, who attends... |
John Ziegler's column By / LAT — Permalink As a radio talk-show host on KFI-AM (640), I am keenly aware that there is often a dramatic difference between the "facts" of a story and the "truth" of that tale. Two recent local episodes vividly illustrated this phenomenon. | |
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Kevin Drum: Sunday Opinion editor Bob Sipchen thought its accuracy was debatable: [snipped quote] Click here to read the whole thing and then vote. |
Kevin Roderick: It was by John Ziegler of KFI, and Sunday Opinion editor Bob Sipchen writes that he rejected it as "several hundred... |
The God Racket, From DeMille to DeLay By / NYT — Permalink AS Congress and the president scurried to play God in the lives of Terri Schiavo and her family last weekend, ABC kicked off Holy Week with its perennial ritual: a rebroadcast of the 1956 Hollywood blockbuster, "The Ten Commandments." | |
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Jeff Jarvis: Easter is about celebrating a new day. : LATER: Frank Rich bangs this same drum today. Ed Driscoll: Happy Easter! (Oh, and the New York Times wishes you Happy Easter as well. Glad to see them following Peggy Noonan's advice.) |
Peter Burnet: AND A VERY HAPPY EASTER TO YOU TOO — The God Racket, From DeMille to DeLay (Frank Rich, New York Times, March 27th,... Dan Gillmor: Theocrats Running Rampant "Frank Rich (NY Times): The God Racket, From DeMille to DeLay. |
Boats, Cows, Tasty Lamb: Iraq Battles Smuggling By / NYT — Permalink ZOWER CHUM, on the Iran-Iraq Border - With a Kalashnikov rifle slung over one shoulder, Kadhum Mahmoud took a few brisk steps on the snow-packed earth and crossed from Iraq into Iran. | |
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Bill Roggio: Another interesting sign of success is this latest article in the New York Times, discussing the rise of smuggling in Iraq. Cori Dauber: And one of the services that are consistently forgotten about, at that. |
Juan Cole: Likewise, Ed Wong of the NYT tells us about the smuggling that underpins so much of Iraq's economy right now. |
Iraqi resistance begins to crack after elections By / Observer — Permalink The Iraqi resistance has peaked and is 'turning in on itself', according to recent intelligence reports from Baghdad received by Middle Eastern intelligence agencies. The reports are the most optimistic for several months and reflect analysts' sense that recent elections in Iraq marked a 'quantum shift'. | |
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Jan Haugland: Cracks in the anti-Iraqi coalition — Jason Burke in the Observer reports strong signs that the terrorist groups in Iraq... Captain Ed: Second British Newspaper Notices We're Winning, American Media Still Clueless — The Guardian (UK) follows up on a... Norm Geras: Iraqis against the 'insurgency' — Jason Burke writes in today's Observer on intelligence reports that suggest the... |
Cori Dauber: But, man, when you start reading that in the Guardian, you've really got to start wondering if this isn't something more than just another temporary lull. (via Memeorandum.) Pejman Yousefzadeh: When even the Guardian admits that the resistance is losing steam: [snipped quote] As with many other reports from... Arthur Chrenkoff: From today's arch-lefty Brit "Guardian": "Iraqi resistance begins to crack after elections": [snipped quote] The article... |
| Also: Orrin Judd | |
Business Sees Gain in GOP Takeover By / WaPo — Permalink Fortune 500 companies that invested millions of dollars in electing Republicans are emerging as the earliest beneficiaries of a government controlled by President Bush and the largest GOP House and Senate majority in a half century. | |
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Gary Farber: What's going on here? Did anyone mention "the people versus the powerful"? The laws must be made more "pro-business," they say. Taegan Goddard: Business Makes Gains With GOP Control — [snipped quote] the Washington Post reports. Link | Related News |
Gene @HarrysPlace: Getting their money's worth — The corporations which have donated millions of dollars to Republican candidates are... Oliver Willis: Business Sees Gain in GOP Takeover [snipped quote] It's the Powerful vs. The People. |
DeLay quietly steps out of Schiavo spotlight NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON — Early this week, Tom DeLay assumed an uncharacteristically visible role in the Terri Schiavo case, pressing Congress to intervene, invoking God and attacking Schiavo's husband before television cameras and on the House floor. | |
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Jack Cluth: Of course, once it became clear that there was no further political benefits to be gained, Tom DeLay and other Congressional Republicans quickly stepped aside. Tim Dunlop: I wonder what his "conservtive supporters" will make of it, especially when they have been making comments like this:... |
Joe Gandelman: Consistency is not exactly the adjective that can be applied here... UPDATE: The New York Times offers this report about how he has now quietly stepped out of the spotlight. |
Movement in the Pews Tries to Jolt Ohio By / NYT — Permalink COLUMBUS, Ohio - Christian conservative leaders from scores of Ohio's fastest growing churches are mounting a campaign to win control of local government posts and Republican organizations, starting with the 2006 governor's race. | |
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TChris: Religion and Politics in Ohio — The religious right, hoping to tear down the wall that keeps a respectful distance... Orrin Judd: THE MAKING OF A PRESIDENT: Movement in the Pews Tries to Jolt Ohio (JAMES DAO, 3/27/05, NY Times) [snipped quote] Mr... |
Jesse Taylor: By The Power Of Blackness, I Have The Power — Cultural conservatives are gearing up for a fight in Ohio, and they're... Lambert @Corrente: [quote]"It acts as if it lives in Boston, Mass." (via Times) [end quote] Sweet Jeebus. |
Free Saddam and jail Blair? Telegraph — Permalink When the International Criminal Court was set up in 2002, the Americans refused to recognise its authority. They explained their reluctance on the basis that to give overarching authority to an international court would not ensure that decisions on vital international issues were made by judges independent of political control. | |
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Avedon Carol: Even the Torygraph is admitting that the invasion was illegal: Indeed, according to Elizabeth Wilmshurst, the deputy... Orrin Judd: EVEN MORE OF A ASS THAN USUAL: Free Saddam and jail Blair? |
Harry @HarrysPlace: The Inevitable Conclusion — The conclusion of a Sunday Telegraph leader on the legality of the war: The truth is that the war was probably not legal under international law. |
Morality and Reality By / NYT — Permalink The core belief that social conservatives bring to cases like Terri Schiavo's is that the value of each individual life is intrinsic. The value of a life doesn't depend upon what a person can physically do, experience or achieve. | |
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Hilzoy @ObsidianWings: Here he would be echoing a point made by David Brooks, among others: "Once you say that it is up to individuals or... The Big Trunk: David Brooks also devotes his New York Times column to the Schiavo case this morning: "Morality and reality." Digby: Cafeteria Moralists — Matt Yglesias writes: [snipped quote] I agree that that the pro-life absolutist view on the first question requires an absolutist view on the second. |
Jeff Jarvis: See also David Brooks in The New York Times this weekend trying so very hard to be Mr. Reasonable. John Holbo: Two Varieties of Absolutism Matthew Yglesias has a pair of interesting posts up (1, 2), responding to David Brooks' latest. Peter Burnet: REALITY AND IMPOTENCE — Morality and Reality (David Brooks, New York Times, March 26th, 2005) [snipped quote] All across... |
| Also: Armando @DailyKos, Barbara O'Brien, Matthew Yglesias, Billmon, Glenn Smith, Amanda Marcotte, Ed Cone, Pudentilla | |
The Politics of the Schiavo Case Weekly Standard — Permalink IN HER 1993 NOVEL The Children of Men, P.D. James depicts the world of 2021. A mysterious infection has rendered humanity infertile—the last baby is believed to have been born in 1995—yet British authorities move forward with their program of "voluntary" euthanasia for the elderly and others who cannot meet society's standards for "quality of life." | |
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Barbara O'Brien: From the Weekly Standard: "This matters because abortion, not assisted suicide, is the mother of all American social issues. Ken Masugi: UPDATE: Bill Kristol's magazine, The Weekly Standard, has an article by Jeff Mueller and Frank Cannon, in which they... |
Ann Althouse: Here's the slant from Jeffrey Bell & Frank Cannon at The Weekly Standard: [snipped quote] Did you enjoy that slab of red meat? The Big Trunk: Conduct unbecoming — In their Weekly Standard piece on "The politics of the Schiavo case," Jeff Bell and Frank Cannon... |
Bush Administration Probes Syria's Future With Assad's Opposition WaPo — Permalink The Bush administration is reaching out to the Syrian opposition because of growing concerns that unrest in Lebanon could spill over and suddenly destabilize Syria, which borders four countries pivotal to U.S. Middle East policy — Israel, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey, U.S. and Syrian sources said. | |
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Avedon Carol: A meeting Thursday, hosted by new State Department "democracy czar" Elizabeth Cheney, brought together senior... Billmon: A Family Affair — This got by me when it happened, but I see from a story in the Washington Post today that Dick... |
Pejman Yousefzadeh: FOMENTING CHANGE IN SYRIA — Given all of the signs of internal unrest in Syria, it should come as no surprise that the... |
Rice Describes Plans To Spread Democracy WaPo — Permalink Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday set out ambitious goals for the Bush administration's push for greater democracy overseas over the next four years, including pressing for competitive presidential elections this year in Egypt and women's right to vote in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. | |
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Captain Ed: Rice: Middle East Status Quo Doomed — Condoleezza Rice spoke extensively with the Washington Post on the foreign-policy... Daniel Drezner: Here's a thought — with the Iraqi insurgency looking for an exit option, and with it becoming increasingly clear who's... Orrin Judd: INSTABILITY IS US: Rice Describes Plans To Spread Democracy (Glenn Kessler and Robin Wright, March 26, 2005, Washington... |
Betsy Newmark: The Washington Post has an interview with Condi Rice. What is remarkable is how strongly she comes out in support of democratic movements around the world. Joseph Alexander Norland: Ted has posted two important pieces on the topic (1 and 2); please add this citation from WaPo to your file: "Rice... |
Retro Active By / TNR — Permalink Here's the good news from the Middle East this week: In an Al Jazeera poll of 17,955 viewers just before the Arab League's two-day summit in Algiers, thousands of people voted for "democracy and political reform" as their number one priority—so many, in fact,... | |
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Skippy: joseph braude at the new republic online finds that strangely enough, the arab decision-makers don't care that arab opinion is in favor of democracy. David Adesnik: THE DICTATORS' CLUB: Joseph Braude of TNR reports on the latest from the Arab League. |
Pejman Yousefzadeh: CHALLENGES REMAIN TO MIDDLE EASTERN DEMOCRATIZATION — Joseph Braude discusses them with his typical perspicacity. |
Many Germans Want Berlin Wall Back, Study Finds Reuters — Permalink BERLIN (Reuters) - Nearly a quarter of western Germans and 12 percent of easterners want the Berlin Wall back — more than 15 years after the fall of the barrier that split Germany during the Cold War, according to a new survey. | |
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Ed Driscoll: I can't help but think that the sentiments behind this Reuters piece, also about Germany, are more than a little... |
Arthur Chrenkoff: Mr Gorbachev, bring back that wall — Put this one into the "Can't make everyone happy" files: "Nearly a quarter of... |
Schneider: Schiavo case 'being made very political' CNN — Permalink WASHINGTON (CNN) — Anti-abortion activists are among the people who have rallied around Terri Schiavo's parents in the fight to reinsert their daughter's feeding tube. | |
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Jesse Taylor: That Crack Analysis — First, Happy Easter - enjoy your chocolate and Jesus. Second, William Schneider is an idiot. |
Oliver @LiquidList: Politics: Of Schiavo — I'm so glad CNN has Bill Schneider to provide a balanced look at the political agendas at work... |
Illegal Nuclear Deals Alleged By / LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — A federal criminal investigation has uncovered evidence that the government of Pakistan made clandestine purchases of U.S. high-technology components for use in its nuclear weapons program in defiance of American law. | |
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Steve Soto: On the same day that the Los Angeles Times broke the story that Pakistan has been discovered to be illegally buying... Matthew Yglesias: Pakistan — Surely we can come up with a Pakistan policy that doesn't lead me to see both of these headlines during my... |
Laura Rozen: An Islamabad businessman with close ties to Islamic militants, Humayun Khan, purchased the technology, the LA Times'... Pudentilla: So awol's giving musharref F-16s after learning that : "WASHINGTON — A federal criminal investigation has uncovered... |
Texas Rail Official Admits Missteps By / NYT — Permalink Several months ago, the Texas official overseeing rail crossings commented in court proceedings that many in the rail industry "would consider me their friend." That may not be surprising given what the official, Darin Kosmak, has done to help railroads fight lawsuits brought by accident victims. | |
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William J. Dyer: Personal knowledge in affidavits — This story in today's New York Times doesn't surprise me — and indeed, I wrote a... |
TChris: Agencies should help businesses understand and obey the law, but Darin Kosmak, the Texas official who safeguards rail... |
Where Faith Thrives By / NYT — Permalink DETE CROSSING, Zimbabwe — So with Easter approaching, here I am in the heart of Christendom. That's right - Africa. One of the most important trends reshaping the world is the decline of Christianity in Europe and its rise in Africa and other parts of the developing world, including Asia and Latin America. | |
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Matthew Yglesias: But this week's column makes an important and underappreciated point: [snipped quote] That's right, though of course liberal secularists in the U.S. should take heed as well. Orrin Judd: EAST IS EAST...AND WEST: Where Faith Thrives (NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF, 3/26/05, NY Times) [snipped quote] Funny how he manages to arrive at exactly the wrong point. |
Ken Masugi: Christianity and World History — Despite some silly statements—e.g., "The rise of the Christian right in the U.S. is... |
Florida judge denies latest appeal in Schiavo case CNN — Permalink CLEARWATER, Florida (CNN) — Florida Circuit Court Judge George Greer on Saturday turned down the latest appeal by the parents of Terri Schiavo for her feeding tube to be reinserted. | |
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Jack Cluth: Don't worry; there's enough self-righteousness and hypocrisy here for everyone.... So-called 'defenders of life,' where were you when … ? |
Joe Gandelman: The Schindlers' Attorney Says There Will Be No More Federal Appeals: "PINELLAS PARK, Florida (CNN) — An attorney... |
Fla. officials' attempt, fail to seize Schiavo By / Knight Ridder — Permalink Agents of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement told police in Pinellas Park, the small town where Schiavo lies at Hospice Woodside, that they were on the way to take her to a hospital to resume her feeding. | |
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Steve Bainbridge: Even so, however, I was stunned to learn that Jeb Bush apparently tried to snatch Terri from the hospice where she is being killed lies dying (to be PC about it). Joe Gandelman: Local Police Reportedly Stopped Florida Agents From Seizing Schiavo by Joe Gandelman The Miami Herald reports that state... Kevin Drum: JEB BUSH AND THE CULTURE OF SUPERIOR FIREPOWER...Jeb Bush is now certifiably bats**t insane: [snipped quote] Jeb was... |
Barbara O'Brien: Here's the story as reported by Knight Ridder. Mark Kleiman: It turns out that Bush ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to snatch Schiavo and take her to a hospital,... |
Vital Signs of a Ruined Falluja Grow Stronger By / NYT — Permalink FALLUJA, Iraq, March 20 - Four months after American bombs and guns pounded much of this city into ruins, some signs of life are returning. A kebab shop and a bakery have reopened on the bullet-scarred main boulevard. About a third of the city's 250,000 residents have trickled back since early January. | |
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Cori Dauber: Finally, the New York Times gets around to attempting to answer the question — how is the reconstruction effort going in Fallujah? John Cole: Good News in Falluja — From all places, the front page of the NY Times: [snipped quote] Read the whole thing- there are problems, but the place is improving. |
Orrin Judd: THE MORE THINGS CHANGE...: Vital Signs of a Ruined Falluja Grow Stronger (ROBERT F. WORTH, 3/26/05, NY Times)... |
Thousands Head for Bishkek Against Kyrgyz Coup By / Reuters — Permalink BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (Reuters) - Kyrgyzstan's ousted interior minister led thousands of demonstrators toward the capital on Saturday to protest against the coup that overthrew President Askar Akayev, warning there was a risk of civil war. | |
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Robert Mayer: Laurence notes that 3000 protestors are heading toward Bishkek to protest against Akayev's removal. |
Captain Ed: The Counterrevolution That Couldn't Demonstrate Straight — Reuters reports some mildly ominous developments in Kyrgyzstan this morning. |
Pentagon Will Not Try 17 G.I.'s Implicated in Prisoners' Deaths By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, March 25 - Despite recommendations by Army investigators, commanders have decided not to prosecute 17 American soldiers implicated in the deaths of three prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004, according to a new accounting released Friday by the Army. | |
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Ezra Klein: Hold Ourselves Accountable — This is discouraging: [snipped quote] I can't believe I have to make this point anymore,... Avedon Carol: In The New York Times, Pentagon Will Not Try 17 G.I.'s Implicated in Prisoners' Deaths "Despite recommendations by Army... Daniel Drezner: Despite the report, the Army does not plan on prosecuting anyone named. |
Michael Froomkin: Which brings me to why the ICC is looking better all the time: Pentagon Will Not Try 17 G.I.'s Implicated in Prisoners'... Steve Clemons: The U.S. government is dealing with these prisoner abuse cases shamefully and casually — and it is darkly absurd that... Digby: Accountability "Despite recommendations by Army investigators, commanders have decided not to prosecute 17 American... |
| Also: Roger Ailes | |
DeLay Quietly Steps Out of the Schiavo Spotlight NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, March 25 - Early this week, Tom DeLay assumed an uncharacteristically visible role in the Terri Schiavo case, pressing Congress to intervene, invoking God and attacking Ms. Schiavo's husband before television cameras and on the House floor. | |
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Charles Kuffner: DeLay's emerging public profile — I've seen several takes on this NYT story on the waxing and waning of Tom DeLay's... Armando @DailyKos: Hanging DeLay Around Their Necks — A view on the political fallout from the Schiavo travesty: [snipped quote] Extreme and out of the mainstream GOP. |
Taegan Goddard: The New York Times says that Frist and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) have "slipped out of the spotlight." Jim Dallas: The Passion of the Hammer — The Times resports that Tom DeLay is quietly trying to retreat from Schiav-o-rama. |
Five stranded elk shot; they faced slow starvation By / Salt Lake Tribune — Permalink Attached to the news release are three different views of the ledges, where the bull elk were found. Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) biologists responded Price Canyon. The bulls were on the Castle Gate formation high above the Price River Water Treatment Plant. | |
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John Cole: Spare Me, K-Lo — K-LO is losing her mind: [quote]SPARING ELK A PAINFUL DEATH [K. J. Lopez] "Five stranded elk shot; they...[end quote] |
K. J. Lopez: SPARING ELK A PAINFUL DEATH — "Five stranded elk shot; they faced slow starvation" |
Salazar retreats from no-filibuster position By / Washington Times — Permalink Sen. Ken Salazar has backed off the position he took during his campaign last year that Democrats should not filibuster President Bush's judicial nominees. Republicans had been counting on Mr. Salazar, a Democrat from Colorado, as a key vote against the filibusters. | |
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Paul @Wizbang: Salazar retreats from no-filibuster position Sen. Ken Salazar has backed off the position he took during his campaign... |
Betsy Newmark: When campaigning in Colorado Ken Salazar said he favored letting Bush's nominees have an up and down vote. |
The few, the proud - but surely not AWOL By / St. Petersburg Times — Permalink ST. PETERSBURG - Marine recruits so new that their hair hasn't been cut don't sound like the best models for a story about soldiers going AWOL - particularly since none in the group is a deserter. | |
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Betsy Newmark: Michelle Malkin links to this story from South Florida about how Harpers Magazine has a cover story on "AWOL in America"... |
Michelle Malkin: PHOTO TAMPERING AT HARPER'S — Sharon Bond of the St. Petersburg Times reports on a controversy regarding the cover of... |
Hitler books 'show new obsession gripping Germans' By / Telegraph — Permalink The intimate details of Hitler's life - from his fear that his lavatory might be poisoned to his habit of scratching his neck until it bled - are obsessing Germans once again amid a huge revival of interest in the Nazi era. | |
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Ed Driscoll: First up, Betsy Newmark links to this Telegraph article, which describes the increasing rise in interest in Germany, 60... |
Betsy Newmark: Hitler and Nazis are increasingly popular as book topics and images in Germany. And a disturbing percentage of Germans long for a strong leader. |
Schiavo Case Tests Priorities Of GOP WaPo — Permalink A week after their unprecedented intervention in the Terri Schiavo case, Republican congressional leaders find themselves in a moral and political thicket, having advanced the cause as a right-to-life issue — only to confront polls showing that the public does not see it that way. | |
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Tom Maguire: Reopening The Stem Cell Debate — With the Schiavo Relief bill, one might well ask - why did Congressfolk support an unpopular and ineffective bill? Josh Marshall: Grover Norquist, quoted in the Post: [snipped quote] If this is really about 'sav[ing] this woman's life' why look at the polling data? Lambert @Corrente: Apparently, a lot of Republicans are asking Delay ('Why did you put us through this? ' Why indeed? |
Betsy Newmark: The Washington Post has a front page story intimating that the GOP is having second thoughts about their vote on Terri Schiavo. Taegan Goddard: Schiavo Causes GOP Split — "Republican lawmakers and others engaged in the debate say an internal party dispute" over... |
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at The Post WaPo — Permalink The following is a transcript of an interview with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's by Post editors and reporters in the Post newsroom on Friday, March 25, 2005. | |
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Captain Ed: However, she went into greater detail, which one can read in the transcript of the interview itself: "Q: So you're not... |
Ted Belman: Realities on the ground — The following is a transcript of an interview with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice by... |
Why Schiavo's Parents Didn't Have a Case By / LAT — Permalink Terri Schiavo's parents did not lose their federal case because they didn't try hard enough. They didn't lose their case because everyone conspired against them. They didn't lose it because Congress ticked off the judiciary over the weekend with its over-the-top custom-made legislation. | |
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Phillip Carter: CBS legal analyst Andrew Cohen wrote one of the most perceptive columns about the Schiavo case for Friday's Los Angeles Times. Jeralyn Merritt: And legal analyst Andrew Cohen explains in the LA Times why Terri's parents didn't have a case. |
Lambert @Corrente: The Schiavo case: Closure — Andrew Cohen, the CBS legal analyst who has been a beacon of sanity in the Schiavo case,... James Joyner: Why Schiavo's Parents Didn't Have a Case (LAT) "Terri Schiavo's parents did not lose their federal case because they didn't try hard enough. |
Rice: Plan to expand settlement 'at odds' with U.S. policy Haaretz — Permalink U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Israel's plans to expand a West Bank settlement was "at odds with American policy" and could threaten peace with the Palestinians, marking her sharpest attack of Israel since taking office, according to a newspaper report Friday. | |
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Juan Cole: He stole more land on a vast scale this week, with a plan to put 3500 new settlers into the West Bank, , which is... |
Ted Belman: "Viable state" trumps "secure borders" — Rice: Plan to expand settlement 'at odds' with U.S. policy [snipped quote] I... |
Judges deny Schiavo parents again CNN — Permalink PINELLAS PARK, Florida (CNN) — A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday night against the parents of Terri Schiavo, who are in a desperate race to prolong the life of their brain-damaged daughter. | |
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John Hawkins: Still — still — we are a nation of laws and I cannot endorse violating them --- which is why I condemn acts like these... Lambert @Corrente: MBF "errs on the side of life" by offering $300,000 to kill Michael Schiavo and Judge Greer CNN [snipped quote] Looking more and more like '30s Germany, isn't it? |
Jeralyn Merritt: Her father says she only has hours left to live. The court appeals are still alive, but winding down as well. |
Breakfast on the Brink of the Break NRO — Permalink "What is a spectroscope?" Molly shifts uneasily in her chair. "It's a device that lets you look into space?" "Sit next to me, Mummy," says Phoebe as I am putting down bowls of porridge. | |
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Tbogg: Which brings me to today's America's Worst Mother™. I don't get it. |
S.Z.: American's Worst Mother ™ and the Three Bears: A Seasonal Story in Honor of TBogg's New Comments Feature "I... |