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8:30 PM ET, March 8, 2009

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
DAVID BROOKS GETS SHRILL.... Just yesterday I argued that respectable figures of the political establishment are reluctant to call obvious stupidity “stupid,” especially when it comes to truly painful ideas like a spending freeze in the midst of the economic crisis.
RELATED:
Ryan Powers / Think Progress:
Brooks: Boehner's spending freeze would be ‘insane,’ GOP is ‘stuck with Reagan.’  —  This morning on ABC's This Week, conservative columnist David Brooks addressed House Minority Leader John Boehner's recent call for a “freeze on government spending” in response to the quickly worsening economic conditions.
New York Times:
G.O.P. Senators Say Some Big Banks Can Be Allowed to Fail  —  John McCain and Richard C. Shelby, two high-profile Republican senators, said on Sunday that the government should allow a number of the biggest American banks to fail.  —  “Close them down, get them out of business,” Mr. Shelby …
RELATED:
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
OY  —  If nothing else is clear in our current crisis, it is that the only thing more bankrupt than the big banks is the debate over whether or not to nationalize them.  On This Week this morning, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) said he opposed nationalization but thought insolvent banks should be closed down.
NY Daily News:
Spitzer choked her during sex, says call girl  —  His political rivals used to accuse Eliot Spitzer of going for the jugular.  Now a new call girl is claiming the former governor literally went for hers — claiming he wrapped his fingers around her neck during some kinky role-playing.
Discussion: Don Surber and MyDD
Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Should Michelle Cover Up?  —  Journalists are never supposed to start a piece with a scene in a taxi because it signals either laziness about gathering facts or a tendency to embroider facts.  —  Nonetheless, I'm going to.  David Brooks and I were sharing a cab to the British Embassy the other day to meet with Gordon Brown.
Ben Armbruster / Think Progress:
Wallace Defends Limbaugh: 'He Wasn't Saying I Want The President To Fail'  —  This morning on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace aired a clip of President Obama saying last month, “The only way to solve the great challenges of our time is put aside stale ideology and petty partisanship and embrace what works.”
Discussion: Cafe Talk Aggregator
RELATED:
Greyhawk / Mudville Gazette:
Diversions (III)  —  Remember the Iraq drawdown you heard about last month?  The one where a Brigade originally scheduled for Iraq was going to Afghanistan instead?  Well, a funny thing about that...  Last weekend we noted this obscure bit of news from ABC:
Discussion: BLACKFIVE
Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
The Inflection Is Near?  —  Sometimes the satirical newspaper The Onion is so right on, I can't resist quoting from it.  Consider this faux article from June 2005 about America's addiction to Chinese exports: … Let's today step out of the normal boundaries of analysis of our economic crisis …
David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court liberal?  —  In a decision last week against the drug company Wyeth, it was the court's most conservative justice who most harshly criticized a Bush administration legal policy.  —  Reporting from Washington — The Supreme Court opinion that drew the most praise …
Discussion: The Swamp
RELATED:
Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Court Defies Pro-Business Label
Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy
Tom Blumer / NewsBusters.org:
Tea Parties?  What Tea Parties?  Predictably, Established Media Coverage of Tea Party Protests Is Sparse  —  Coverage of “tea party” protests in various cities around the country (this March 4 Pajamas Media press release, HT to FreeRepublic, cited 22 locations on February 27 and seven this weekend) …
Kevin Rennie / Hartford Courant:
A Pardon For A Friend, A Good Deal For Dodd  —  It takes considerable political skill for a U.S. senator to win a presidential pardon for a friend without the traditional review by the Justice Department.  Sen. Christopher Dodd moved the furtive levers of power in 2001 for Edward R. Downe …
Reuters:
Iran test-fires new missile - media  —  TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has test-fired a new air-to-surface missile, Iranian media reported on Sunday, in the Islamic Republic's latest display of its military capability.  —  The missile test was carried out despite the offer by the administration …
Discussion: Don Surber
Edmund L. Andrews / New York Times:
World Bank Says Global Economy Will Shrink in '09  —  WASHINGTON — The economic crisis that started with junk mortgages in the United States is causing havoc for poorer countries around the world, not only stifling their growth but choking off their access to credit as well, the World Bank said on Sunday.
John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Chris Wallace and Hume on Wall Street: “Is this an ‘Obama bear market?’  —  John Amato's virtual online magazine...OK, It's a blog!  — Home- Archives  — Tags Directory  — Contact Us- Donate- FAQ  — Advertising- Commenting- General Problems- Media Problems- Supported Browsers- User Registration
Discussion: The Moderate Voice and News Hounds
Scott / Power Line:
WHAT PRICE CHURCHILL?  —  Ted Bromund notes that upon entering office President Obama returned a bronze bust of Winston Churchill that had been on loan as a symbol of the Special Relationship from the British Government to the United States since 9/11.  According to Newsweek's report …
Lindsey Baguio / Orange County Register:
Thousands join talk show hosts in tax protest  —  Officials estimate more than 8,000 people showed up in downtown Fullerton to protest tax hikes in budget deal.  —  Recommend  —  FULLERTON - They're revolting.  Families with children, bikers, seniors, pirates - by the thousands descended …
Discussion: Hot Air, 24Ahead and PoliPundit.com
Washington Post:
The Next Hit: Quick Defaults  —  More FHA-Backed Mortgages Go Bad Without a Single Payment  —  The last time the housing market was this bad, Congress set up the Federal Housing Administration to insure Depression-era mortgages that lenders wouldn't otherwise make.
Frank Schaeffer / The Huffington Post:
Open Letter to the Republican Traitors (From a Former Republican)  —  Dear Republican Leaders: The Republican Party has become the party dedicated to sabotaging the American future.  Check out the sermon I just delivered about the Republican Party on CNN when being interviewed by D.L. Hughley — and/or read on.
Discussion: Crooks and Liars
 
 
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 More Items: 
Wall Street Journal:
Auto Team Wraps Up in Detroit
Pamela Constable / Washington Post:
U.S. Troops Face a Tangle Of Goals in Afghanistan
BBC:
Real IRA ‘behind army shootings’
Discussion: Pajamas Media
Washington Post:
Pentagon's Unwanted Projects in Earmarks
Discussion: Defense Tech
Jamie Doward / Guardian:
British Muslim leader urged to quit over Gaza
Discussion: Harry's Place
Yossi Melman / Haaretz:
Report: Shoe hurled at Ahmadinejad in Iranian city
Discussion: NewsBusters.org
 Earlier Items: 
Deb Riechmann / Associated Press:
Recession on track to be longest in postwar period
Discussion: Balloon Juice, Donklephant and PoliBlog
David Barrett / Telegraph:
Campaigners will seek arrest of Islamic radical
Discussion: Israel Matzav
Helene Cooper / New York Times:
Dreaming of Splitting the Taliban
Discussion: MyDD and FP Passport
BBC:
MI5 telegrams ‘fed interrogation’
Discussion: Biased BBC
Dan Eggen / Washington Post:
High-Speed Rail Drives Obama's Transportation Agenda
 

 
From Techmeme:

Alex Heath / The Verge:
Meta details Llama 3: 8B- and 70B-parameter models, a focus on reducing false refusals, and an upcoming model trained on 15T+ tokens that has 400B+ parameters

David Pierce / The Verge:
Google announces a new Platforms and Devices team overseeing Pixel, Android, Chrome, Photos, and more, to integrate AI across its products, led by Rick Osterloh

Ryan Morrison / Tom's Guide:
Microsoft researchers introduce VASA-1, an AI model that creates a realistic talking face video from a portrait photo and an audio file, in research preview

 
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