memeorandum: GOT OPTIMISM? — THE WORLD'S LEADING THINKERS SEE GOOD NEWS AHEAD (John Brockman/edge.org)

11:20 PM ET, January 2, 2007

Top Items:

AP Again Challenged on Iraqi Source — Continues to Stand By Reporting — NEW YORK A long-running dispute between The Associated Press and critics over one of its Iraqi sources show no signs of abating, despite at least two lengthy rebuttals by the news organization.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Patterico's Pontifications, Flopping Aces, Don Surber, A Blog For All, BizzyBlog, Wake up America, Ace of Spades HQ, Sister Toldjah and Bill's Bites

Eason Jordan / iraqslogger.com:

The AP's Jamil Hussein Scandal — Controversy Will Haunt the AP Until It Does What is Right — If an Iraqi police captain by the name of Jamil Hussein exists, there is no convincing evidence of it - and that means the Associated Press has a journalistic scandal on its hands that will fester until the AP deals with it properly.

Discussion: Austin Bay Blog, Townhall.com Blog's …, Democracy Project, Ace of Spades HQ, jules crittenden, Daily Pundit, Wizbang, Hot Air and Power Line

Confederate Yankee:
Gone in 60 Stories

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard, The Strata-Sphere, PrairiePundit and Lawyers, Guns and Money

Armed Liberal / Winds of Change.NET:
"It's Just A Scratch" — In a display of clueless arrogance …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Justin Rood / TPMmuckraker:

House GOP: Don't Hurt Us — Please — Republicans aren't yet an official minority in the House, but they're already beginning a campaign to portray themselves as victims of a heartless Democratic majority. — In a "Dear Colleague" letter circulated to fellow Republicans …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, The Moderate Voice, The Reaction, Political Animal, Shakespeare's Sister, Angry Bear and Reason Magazine

E. J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
The New Crowd's First Test

Discussion: DonkeyRising, New York Times and Captain's Quarters

Digby / Hullabaloo:
When Time Stood Still — I've noticed something interesting among …

Discussion: MyDD, Alternate Brain and Shakespeare's Sister

Noam N. Levey / Los Angeles Times:
Democrats to tackle modest proposals

Discussion: Political Animal, PoliBlog (TM) and Washington Post

Michael Roston / The Raw Story:

CNN apologizes for Obama gaffe in Bin Laden graphic — Print page sponsored by Velvet Revolution. — Update: Senator Obama's office called RAW STORY to comment on the incident and CNN's apology, which can be found at the end of the story. — A Monday night broadcast of CNN's Situation Room …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Taylor Marsh, Shakespeare's Sister and BobGeiger.com

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
CNN apologizes to Barack Obama

Discussion: The Raw Story, Wonkette and SOTUblog

Brian Maloney / The Radio Equalizer: Senator Barack Hussein Obama (D- Ill), Osama Bin Laden, CNN

Associated Press:
CNN Apologizes for Mistaken Headline

Discussion: The Irish Trojan's Blog

Keith Olbermann / MSNBC:

Special comment about 'sacrifice' — BBC reports Bush will reveal troop surge plan in sacrifice-themed speech — SPECIAL COMMENT — If in your presence an individual tried to sacrifice an American serviceman or woman, would you intervene? — Would you at least protest?

Discussion: The Next Hurrah, Daily Kos, The Mahablog and Macsmind

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:

Olbermann: Special Comment on "Sacrifice" — Keith Olbermann stepped up and slapped Bush's plan to use the word "sacrifice" as an excuse to send more troops to Iraq. Bush needs a new catch phrase to try and deceive the nation with, but Republican talking points won't work on the people anymore.

Discussion: Think Progress

Digby / Hullabaloo:
Sacrificing For Junior

Discussion: James Wolcott's Blog

John F. Burns / New York Times:

Iraq Plans Inquiry Into Hussein Execution — With angry demonstrations spreading across Iraq's Sunni Arab heartland, the country's Shiite-led government said today that it had ordered an investigation into the disorderly scenes at the execution of Saddam Hussein, who was mocked and taunted …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Lauren Frayer / Associated Press:

Iraqi Government to Investigate Saddam Hanging, Leak of Video — BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — The prime minister on Tuesday ordered an investigation into the conduct of Saddam Hussein's execution in a bid to learn who among the witnesses taunted the former Iraqi leader in the last minutes of his life, then leaked a cell phone video.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Talking Points Memo

Ynetnews:

Iran: Hitler was a Jew — Advisor to President Ahmadinejad claims Nazi leader was Jew who conspired with USSR and Britain to establish Jewish state — Just when you thought the Iranian leadership could stoop no further: A top advisor to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed …

Discussion: jules crittenden, Secular Blasphemy, Wake up America, The Moderate Voice, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, AMERICAN FUTURE, Blinq, Clarity & Resolve, Hot Air, PrairiePundit and Ace of Spades HQ

Associated Press:
Iran vows to 'humiliate' U.S.

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs, The American Street and JOSHUAPUNDIT

CBC News:

Kenya arrests as many as 2 men with Canadian passports: reports — As many as two Somali Islamic fighters who claim to be Canadian were among 10 fighters arrested by Kenyan police, according to separate reports Tuesday. — The 10 were arrested on Monday at the Liboi border crossing in Kenya …

Bill Roggio / The Fourth Rail:
Pursuing the Islamic Courts

Discussion: shabelle.net, Stars & Stripes, PrairiePundit and Counterterrorism Blog

NY Daily News:

Revealed: Rudy's '08 battle plans — It's clearly laid out in 140 pages of printed text, handwriting and spreadsheets: The top-secret plan for Rudy Giuliani's bid for the White House. — The remarkably detailed dossier sets out the budgets, schedules and fund-raising plans that will underpin …

Patrick Healy / New York Times: Leak Reveals '08 Strategy From Giuliani Camp

John Brockman / edge.org:

GOT OPTIMISM? — THE WORLD'S LEADING THINKERS SEE GOOD NEWS AHEAD — While conventional wisdom tells us that things are bad and getting worse, scientists and the science-minded among us see good news in the coming years. That's the bottom line of an outburst of high-powered optimism gathered …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, EconLog and Chicago Boyz

Virgil Goode / USA Today:

Save Judeo-Christian values — Immigration leaves USA vulnerable to Muslim extremists' infiltration. — A letter I sent in early December was written in response to hundreds of e-mails from constituents upset about Rep.-elect Keith Ellison's decision to use the Quran in connection with his congressional swearing-in.

Discussion: Riehl World View, No More Mister Nice Blog, Reason Magazine, Blogcritics Section, Right Wing Nut House, TPMCafe blogs, Think Progress, Liberty Street, The Carpetbagger Report, The Sundries Shack, Political Animal, Shakespeare's Sister, The Heretik, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos and SOTUblog

Ezra Klein:

Libraries vs. Amazon — This is weird: … Since when do bookstores allow you to check out books for no fee, finish them, and bring them back? That's the primary difference between libraries and bookstores — they make reading cheap, if not free. As it happens, John and I work at magazines.

Discussion: The Sundries Shack, CorrenteWire, Never Yet Melted, Outside The Beltway and Althouse

Scott Burgess / The Daily Ablution:

Happy New Year! — It may not be true for most mammals, but the New Year seems a good time for me to emerge from hibernation and revisit regular posting at the Ablution. — It will probably take a bit of time to get back up to speed - to be honest, I've been a bit out of touch with stories …

Discussion: The Corner and Blue Crab Boulevard

Mark Bowden / Opinion Journal:

So, Saddam Is Dead . . . But the way of the world remains Saddam's. — Now that they have hanged Saddam Hussein, perhaps we can begin to appreciate the irony and the lessons of his demise. — Any nation is, at heart, an idea. Once people started organizing themselves in groups larger …