Top Items:
Michael McAuliff / Mercury News:
Dubai company set to run U.S. ports has ties to administration — WASHINGTON - The Dubai firm that won Bush administration backing to run six U.S. ports has at least two ties to the White House. — One is Treasury Secretary John Snow, whose department heads the federal panel that signed off …
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Judd / Think Progress:BREAKING: Rumsfeld and Pace Not Consulted On Transfer Of Port Operations To UAE
Christopher Hitchens / Slate:
Stand up for Denmark! — Why are we not defending our ally? — Put the case that we knew of a highly paranoid religious cult organization with a secretive leader. Now put the case that this cult, if criticized in the press, would take immediate revenge by kidnapping a child.
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway
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Associated Press:
Austria Imposes 3-Year Sentence on Notorious Holocaust Denier — VIENNA, Feb. 20 (AP) — The British historian David Irving on Monday pleaded guilty to denying the Holocaust and was sentenced to three years in prison. He conceded that he was wrong when he said there were no Nazi gas chambers at the Auschwitz death camp.
John M. Broder / New York Times:
States Curbing Right to Seize Private Homes — In a rare display of unanimity that cuts across partisan and geographic lines, lawmakers in virtually every statehouse across the country are advancing bills and constitutional amendments to limit use of the government's power of eminent domain …
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John O'Neil / New York Times:
Supreme Court Reopens Abortion Issue on Alito's First Day — The Supreme Court announced today that it will hear a challenge to a federal law outlawing a late-term abortion procedure, reopening the contentious issue on Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s first day on the bench.
Charles Lane / Washington Post:With Longevity on Court, Stevens's Center-Left Influence Has Grown
Discussion:
TalkLeft, The Political Pit Bull, Wonkette, Hugh Hewitt, The Heretik and The Corner on National …
Gateway Pundit:
Nigerians Rampage with Machetes After Koran is Desecrated — Nigeria confirms that 35 persons were killed, 30 churches and five hotels were also burnt in violence the past three days. — For the third day in a row, Nigerian Muslims rampaged through the streets leaving 13 dead on Monday …
Discussion:
The Counterterrorism Blog, History News Network, Hyscience, RightWinged.com and The Strata-Sphere
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Dulue Mbachu / Associated Press:
Anti-Muslim Riot in Nigeria Turns Deadly — LAGOS, Nigeria - Christian mobs rampaged through a southern Nigerian city Tuesday, burning mosques and killing several people in an outbreak of anti-Muslim violence that followed deadly protests against caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad over the weekend.
Jonathan D. Glater / New York Times:
To: Professor@University.edu Subject: Why It's All About Me — One student skipped class and then sent the professor an e-mail message asking for copies of her teaching notes. Another did not like her grade, and wrote a petulant message to the professor. Another explained that she was late …
New York Times:
Embattled President of Harvard to Step Down at End of Semester — Lawrence H. Summers, the president of Harvard University, said today that he would step down at the end of the academic year. — Dr. Summers will likely take a yearlong sabbatical and then return to Harvard as a distinguished professor …
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Stephen Green / Vodkapundit:
Name Calling — Dan Morgan accuses Glenn Reynolds of being a conservative. — I can't agree with Dan on this one, if only because by his lights I'm one, too. After giving the matter a little thought and a large cocktail, I'd like to propose a new two-part political labeling system.
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Philip P. Pan / Washington Post:
Bloggers Who Pursue Change Confront Fear And Mistrust — BEIJING — When Zhao Jing moved his blog to Microsoft's popular MSN Spaces site last summer, some users worried the Chinese government would block the entire service. The censors had blacklisted the last site where the young journalist …
Will Bunch / Philadelphia Daily News:
Santorum's mortgage raises interest — This article stems from an investigative piece that Daily News staff writer Will Bunch wrote on a freelance assignment for American Prospect, a national political magazine with a liberal bent. The entire 6,000-word story is slated to be available today …
Discussion:
American Prospect, Swing State Project, The Huffington Post, JABBS, The Washington Monthly and WTF Is It Now??
Andrew Cochran / The Counterterrorism Blog:
New Arrests in Ohio for Support of Terrorists in Iraq (updated with indictment & press conference highlights) — Here is the full indictment (Acrobat file) courtesy of Steven Emerson's Investigative Project on Terrorism: — Download OhioIraqiSupportCase.pdf on new arrests of three men …
Discussion:
Reuters, The Strata-Sphere, Flopping Aces, RightWinged.com and FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog
Zogby:
Presidents Day Rating: Bush 40% — President's job approval rating now stable, but base weakened by weight of Iraq War concerns, new Zogby International telephone poll shows — As America marks its official Presidents Day holiday, the nation's likely voters appear to have settled …
Matt Singer / progressivestates.org:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — HELENA, MT - The Progressive Legislative Action Network (PLAN) today issued a report that exposes many of the conservative movement's methods of operation in state government and how progressives can deliver results. The organization also rolled out its website …
Steve Kiggins / thespectrum.com:
Hatch defends Bush's domestic surveillance — CEDAR CITY - Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, boldly defended President Bush's warrantless surveillance program and the war in Iraq on Saturday at an invitation-only luncheon with Iron County political and business leaders.
CNN:
Bush blames mix-up on lab's funding shortfall — Employees rehired before president's visit to tout energy plans — GOLDEN, Colorado (CNN) — President Bush told workers at a renewable energy lab Tuesday that the government had sent "mixed signals" over the future of its federal funding.
Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
Administration Critics Chafe at State Dept. Shuffle — Merger Has Brought Appointees Into Conflict With Longtime Workers, Who Say They Are Sidelined — A State Department reorganization of analysts involved in preventing the spread of deadly weapons has spawned internal turmoil …
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, Democrat Taylor Marsh …, Outside The Beltway, The Weekly Standard, Betsy's Page and Wonkette
Thomas E. Ricks / Washington Post:
U.S. Counterinsurgency Academy Giving Officers a New Mind-Set — Course in Iraq Stresses the Cultural, Challenges the Conventional — TAJI, Iraq — If the U.S. effort in Iraq ultimately is successful, one reason may be the small school started recently on a military base here by Army …
