Top Items:
Jerusalem Post:
Suicide bombing outside Netanya mall kills 5 — Four people were killed and 66 were wounded - three seriously - in an explosion that rocked the entrance to the Hasharon shopping mall on Herzl Street in Netanya at 11:25 a.m. Monday morning. Another person died on the operating table at Laniado Hospital in Kfar Saba.
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Juan / Informed Comment:
Allawi Attacked by Mob in Najaf; — In Baghdad, 2 GIs Killed — Former interim prime minister Iyad Allawi and his entourage were attacked by mobs on Sunday. Najaf governor Asad Abu Kalal complained that Allawi had not cleared his visit with the provincial authorities …
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Toby Harnden / Telegraph:US Army admits Iraqis outnumber foreign fighters as its main enemy
Discussion:
The Heretik, Prairie Weather, QandO, Middle Earth Journal, The Left Coaster and Rising Hegemon
Joel Brinkley / New York Times:
Rice Chides Europeans on Detention Center Complaints — WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice chastised Europe leaders today, saying that before they complain about secret jails for terror suspects in European nations, they should realize that interrogations of these suspects …
Discussion:
ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES
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Joel Brinkley / New York Times:Rice to Defend U.S. on Reports of Prisons for Terror Suspects
Discussion:
TalkLeft
Gerald Walpin / Opinion Journal:
The Wisdom of Solomon — Law schools adopt an Orwellian theory in an effort to keep the military out. — Imagine a college accepting your donation, then saying that you cannot have the same access to the school as all other alumni—but that you must continue making donations. Unbelievable?
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Bloomberg:
Bush to Delay Major Push for Tax Overhaul, People Familiar Say — Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) — President George W. Bush will delay a major push for revamping the tax code because administration officials concluded the changes are too tough to sell to the public and lawmakers, two people familiar with the matter said.
Associated Press:
Pro-Chavez Candidates to Sweep Elections — CARACAS, Venezuela - Candidates aligned with President Hugo Chavez were widely expected to increase their legislative majority Sunday as Venezuelans voted for a new National Assembly in an election boycotted by several opposition parties.
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David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:
Court Nominee Presents Father as Role Model — WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 - When a Democratic senator asked the Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. why he might empathize with the plight of minorities or the poor, he had his answer ready: the example of his late father, an Italian immigrant …
Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:
McCain Won't Back Down On Torture Ban — It sounds like the Bush administration is now finding itself smack against an immovable force — Arizona Senator John McCain, who insists he will not be backing down on his demand for a ban on torture. — Not that he's simply not talking with the administration.
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Robin Wright / Washington Post:
Democrats Find Iraq Alternative Is Elusive — Party's Elite Differ on How to Shift U.S. Policy — Around the country, many grass-roots Democrats are clamoring for a quick withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. On Capitol Hill, Democratic politicians have grown newly aggressive in denouncing …
Discussion:
workingforchange.com, TAPPED, Sirotablog, NewsBusters.org, The Next Hurrah, Daily Kos and ScrappleFace
John Fund / Opinion Journal:
Arnold's 'Harriet Miers Moment' — Has Gov. Schwarzenegger jumped the shark? — Arnold Schwarzenegger stunned California last week by selecting the former deputy chief of staff to Gray Davis, the Democratic governor ousted by the recall that brought Mr. Schwarzenegger to power, to be his own chief of staff.
Discussion:
Vox Popoli
David S. Cloud / New York Times:
Navy to Expand Fleet With New Enemies in Mind — WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 - The Navy wants to increase its fleet to 313 ships by 2020, reversing years of decline in naval shipbuilding and adding dozens of warships designed to defeat emerging adversaries, senior Defense Department officials say.
Mary / Pacific Views:
IS THIS JUSTICE? — On Friday in Beaverton, Oregon, a judge ruled that a girl who had accused 3 "boys" of raping her wasn't credible so he convicted her of filing a false police report, a conviction that if held up could lead to 30 days in jail and a fine upto $1250.
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Ronald Bailey / Reason:
Origin of the Specious — Why do neoconservatives doubt Darwin? — Darwinism is on the way out. At least, that's what Irving Kristol announced to a gathering at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington not long ago. Darwinian evolution, according to the godfather of neoconservatism …
Adam Gorlick / Associated Press:
Accused Fights to Keep Girl on Life Support — WESTFIELD, Mass. - Photos hanging on Allison Avrett's living room wall show her daughter Haleigh as a smiling little girl with brown bangs hanging over her squinting eyes. — Most of the pictures were taken before Avrett gave Haleigh …
Discussion:
Lean Left
Telegraph:
Saddam trial resumes after defence walk-out — The trial of Saddam Hussein has resumed after his defence team stormed out of court in protest at the legitimacy of the proceedings. — The court reversed an earlier decision not to allow Ramsey Clark, the former US Attorney General and member …
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters
Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:
Talk of Changes in White House Staff Turns to Its Chief — There may be 26 holiday parties in 21 days at the White House this month, but the mood in the West Wing is anything but merry. True, President Bush's recent Iraq speeches have put the White House back into comfortable blasts of campaign mode …
Andrew C. Revkin / New York Times:
On Climate Change, a Change of Thinking — IN December 1997, representatives of most of the world's nations met in Kyoto, Japan, to negotiate a binding agreement to cut emissions of "greenhouse" gases. — They succeeded. The Kyoto Protocol was ultimately ratified by 156 countries.
New York Times:
Fixing the Game — The rules of American democracy say every president may install his own team of like-minded people in the government - even at a place like the Justice Department, which is at its root a law-enforcement agency and not a campaign branch office.
MSNBC:
Transcript for December 4 — MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: the president digs in again on Iraq. — (Videotape): — PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH: We will never back down, we will never give in and we will never accept anything less than complete victory.
