Top Items:
New York Times:
Spy Agency Removes Illegal Tracking Files — By The Associated Press The National Security Agency's Internet site has been placing files on visitors' computers that can track their Web surfing activity despite strict federal rules banning most files of that type.
Discussion:
David Corn, Shakespeare's Sister, Pen and Sword, Ezra Klein, Donklephant, Loaded Mouth, scout prime, Balloon Juice, Decision '08 and philly
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Lisa Sandberg / mysanantonio.com:
Justices agree to consider hearing DeLay's money laundering case — AUSTIN — Media reports that U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay had convinced the state's highest court to hear his appeal were as widely circulated as they were, well, wrong. — Justices for the Texas Court Criminal Appeals agreed merely …
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Washington Post:
Bush Team Rethinks Its Plan for Recovery — President Bush shifted his rhetoric on Iraq in recent weeks after an intense debate among advisers about how to pull out of his political free fall, with senior adviser Karl Rove urging a campaign-style attack on critics while younger aides pushed …
Washington Post:
The Fast Rise and Steep Fall of Jack Abramoff — How a Well-Connected Lobbyist Became the Center of a Far-Reaching Congressional Corruption Scandal — Jack Abramoff liked to slip into dialogue from "The Godfather" as he led his lobbying colleagues in planning their next conquest on Capitol Hill.
Sandy Levinson / Balkinization:
Judge Alito and Executive Power — Samuel Alito may turn out, perhaps fortunately for the rest of us, to be a victim of cruel fate, being the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time. Here he is, a noted-and more than competent, in any conventional sense-ultra-conservative …
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Haaretz:
IDF officer, 2 Palestinians killed in West Bank suicide bombing — At least three people - an Israel Defense Forces officer and two Palestinians - were killed Thursday morning when a suicide bomber blew himself up at an IDF checkpoint in the West Bank set up in response to warnings of an impending terrorist attack.
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Michael J. Totten / LA Weekly:
In the Land of the Brother Leader — Vacation in Libya? Totalitarian tourism and the search for truth... and a good meal — Young men who like their comforts, and a dainty table, or who wish to pass their time pleasantly in the company of women, must not go to Arabia.
New York Times:
Twenty Years Later, Buying a House Is Less of a Bite — PORTLAND, Me. - Despite a widespread sense that real estate has never been more expensive, families in the vast majority of the country can still buy a house for a smaller share of their income than they could have a generation ago.
Dave Schuler / The Glittering Eye:
An international community — Dr. Demarche has started another cross-blog conversation (as he does so well) over at American Future. This time around his topic is the "international community". Is there such a thing? What is its scope of action? Blog-friends Mark Safranski of ZenPundit …
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Ezra Klein:
Trust, But Verify — Man, this is some insanely bad polling: … And I mean bad in both senses of the word. First, as John notes, these are bad numbers. I sure as hell think the NSA should listen in on suspected terrorists! Anyone going to make the contrarian case against it? — Good.
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Mary Beth Sheridan / Washington Post:
U.S. Says It Didn't Target Muslims — Mosques Among Sites Monitored For Radiation — Faced with angry complaints, U.S. officials defended an anti-terrorism program yesterday that secretly tested radiation levels around the country — including at more than 100 Muslim sites in the Washington area …
Steven Greenhouse / New York Times:
New York Transit Deal Shows Union's Success on Many Fronts — He was excoriated on tabloid front pages and by the mayor and governor. As thousands streamed across the Brooklyn Bridge on a frigid night during last week's transit strike, someone in a car yelled out his name, prefacing it with a curse.
Reuters:
Focus turns to S.Korean's cloned dog claim — SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean investigation panel looking into the works of a disgraced scientist said on Thursday it could not yet reach a conclusion on whether his team produced the world's first cloned dog.
Discussion:
Donklephant
Margalit Fox / New York Times:
Charles W. Socarides, Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst, Is Dead at 83 — Dr. Charles W. Socarides, a well-known psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who maintained publicly, long after it was considered scientifically acceptable to do so, that homosexuality was a condition amenable to treatment …
ACLU:
"President Nixon Was Not Above the Law, and Neither is President Bush," ACLU Chief Says — NEW YORK - In a full-page advertisement in today's New York Times, the American Civil Liberties Union intensified its call for a special counsel to be appointed to determine whether President George W …
Kevin Anderson / BBC:
Blogs offer taste of war in Iraq — The war in Vietnam is often referred to as the first war on television, and the wars in Afghanistan and now in Iraq will be known as the first wars to be blogged. — A new generation of soldier bloggers in the US, known as milbloggers …
Discussion:
BLACKFIVE
Sabrina Tavernise / New York Times:
U.N. Observer in Baghdad Calls the Voting Valid — BAGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 28 - The United Nations stepped into the controversy over the Iraqi parliamentary election on Wednesday, declaring publicly that the results of the voting on Dec. 15 appeared valid, even as the vote tally continued here.
