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Archive Edition for   Monday, August 8, 2005Go to Current Page
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Quoted in this edition:

ABCNEWS
Ace of Spades HQ
  Ace
Althouse
  Ann Althouse
AMERICAblog
  Joe @AmericaBlog
  Michael @AmericaBlog
Amygdala
  Gary Farber
The Anchoress
  TheAnchoress
www.AndrewSullivan.com
  Dan @AndrewSullivan
Angry Bear
  PGL
  CalculatedRisk
Associated Press
  Robert Burns
  David Bauder
  Charles Dharapak
  Douglass K. Daniel
  Karin Laub
baldilocks
  Baldilocks
Balloon Juice
  John Cole
Barcepundit
  FrancoAlemán
BBC
The Big Picture
  Barry L. Ritholtz
Boston Globe
  Kaitlin Bell
Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal
  Brad DeLong
Bradford Plumer
  Brad Plumer
BrothersJudd Blog
  Orrin Judd
BuzzMachine
  Jeff Jarvis
Captain's Quarters
  Captain Ed
Chrenkoff
  Arthur Chrenkoff
Chris C Mooney
  Chris Mooney
CNN
  Peter Jennings
CNSNews
  Marc Morano
The Corner
  JPod
  Kathryn Jean Lopez
  Iain Murray
  Ramesh Ponnuru
  Mark Krikorian
  Cliff May
corrente
  The Farmer
COUNTERCOLUMN
  Jason Van Steenwyk
The Counterterrorism Blog
  Andrew Cochran
Cox & Forkum Editorial Cartoons
  Forkum
Crooked Timber
  Chris Bertram
cut on the bias
  Susanna Cornett
Daily Kos
  Armando @DailyKos
  DavidNYC @DailyKos
Daimnation!
  Damian Penny
Daly Thoughts
  Gerry Daly
Dean's World
  Dean Esmay
Democratic Veteran
  Jo Fish
Donklephant
  Justin Gardner
  Montag
EconoPundit
  Steve Antler
Editor and Publisher
  William E. Jackson Jr.
Eschaton
  Atrios
Ezra Klein
  Ezra Klein
  Nick Beaudrot
Fafblog!
  Fafnir
The Fourth Rail
  Bill Roggio
Fox News
Gateway Pundit
  Gateway Pundit
Guardian
  Jason Burke
Happy Furry Puppy Story Time with Norbizness
  Norbizness
Harry's Place
  David T
  Harry @HarrysPlace
Hit and Run
  Jacob Sullum
The Huffington Post
  Stephen Elliott
Hugh Hewitt
  Hugh Hewitt
Hullabaloo
  Digby
In the Agora
  Michael Drazer
Independent
Instapundit.com
  Ann Althouse
  Megan McArdle
  Glenn Reynolds
Israel news and commentary from IsraPundit
  David Gerstman
James Wolcott
  James Wolcott
Jerusalem Post
  Caroline Glick
joannejacobs.com
  Joanne Jacobs
La Shawn Barber’s Corner
  La Shawn Barber
Lean Left
  Kevin
The Left Coaster
  Steve Soto
The Liquid List
  Tarek @LiquidList
Los Angeles Times
  Ronald Brownstein
  Janet Hook
  Chris Suellentrop
  Walter F. Roche Jr
The Mahablog
  Barbara O'Brien
Majikthise
  Lindsay Beyerstein
Marginal Revolution
  Tyler Cowen
Mark A. R. Kleiman
  Mark Kleiman
The Media Drop
  Tom Biro
mediabistro
  Garrett M. Graff
  Brian Stelter
Mediaweek
  Todd Shields
MemeFirst
  Felix @MemeFirst
Michelle Malkin
  Michelle Malkin
The Moderate Voice
  Joe Gandelman
  Greg Piper
MSNBC
  Amy Bryer
New York Times
  Richard W. Stevenson
  Patrick D. Healy
  Sheryl Gay Stolberg
  Jacques Steinberg
  John Tierney
  Adam Liptak
  Katharine Q. Seelye
  Tim Golden
  Paul Krugman
  Baruch Fischhoff
  Julia Preston
NewsHog
  Cernig
Newsweek
No More Mister Nice Blog
  Steve M.
normblog
  Norm Geras
Observer
  Nick Cohen
Obsidian Wings
  Hilzoy @ObsidianWings
Off the Kuff
  Charles Kuffner
Oliver Willis
  Oliver Willis
Opinion Journal
  Reuel Marc Gerecht
Oregonian
  David Reinhard
Outside The Beltway
  James Joyner
Pandagon
  Amanda Marcotte
  Jesse Taylor
Patterico's Pontifications
  Patterico
Pejmanesque
  Pejman Yousefzadeh
PoliBlog
  Dr. Steven Taylor
PoliPundit.com
  Alexander K. McClure
  Jayson @PoliPundit
Power Line
  Scott @PowerLine
  John @PowerLine
  Paul @PowerLine
ProfessorBainbridge.com
  Steve Bainbridge
protein wisdom
  Jeff Goldstein
QandO
  McQ
The Radio Equalizer -Brian Maloney
  Brian Maloney
Rantingprofs
  Cori Dauber
RedState.org
  Erick @RedState
Reuters
rexblog.com
  Rex Hammock
Right Wing News
  John Hawkins
Rising Hegemon
  Attaturk
The Road To Surfdom
  Tim Dunlop
Roger Ailes
  Roger Ailes
Roger L. Simon
  Roger L. Simon
Romenesko
  Jim Romenesko
Samizdata.net
  Perry de Havilland
San Diego Union-Tribune
  Terri Somers
Scotsman
  Stephen Mcginty
Secular Blasphemy
  Jan Haugland
The Sideshow
  Avedon Carol
Silent Running
  Tom Paine
skippy the bush kangaroo
  Cookie Jill
  Pudentilla
Slate
  Alexandra Starr
Southern Appeal
  MJA @SouthernAppeal
  Justin @SouthernAppeal
Suburban Guerrilla
  Susie Madrak
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire
  Taegan Goddard
the talking dog
  Talking Dog
Talking Points Memo
  Josh Marshall
TalkLeft
  Jeralyn Merritt
TAPPED
  Jeffrey Dubner
  Sam Rosenfeld
  Matthew Yglesias
»«TBogg»«
  Tbogg
Think Progress
  Mipe @ThinkProgress
  Faiz @ThinkProgress
Time
  Romesh Ratnesar
Times of London
Unqualified Offerings
  Jim Henley
USA Today
  John Machacek
USS Neverdock
  Marc @USSNeverdock
The Volokh Conspiracy
  Eugene Volokh
Wall Street Journal
The Washington Monthly
  Kevin Drum
Washington Post
  Bradley Graham
  Mike Allen
  Salman Rushdie
  Thomas B. Edsall
Washington Times
  Rowan Scarborough
Winds of Change.NET
  Armed Liberal
  Evariste
Wizbang
  Paul @Wizbang
  Kevin Aylward
World O'Crap
  S.Z.
WorldNetDaily
  Ron Strom



They're Not Stupid--They're Lazy
  By / Slate   —   Permalink 
If you believe in test scores—and education policymakers seem to believe in little else these days—American high-school students are a pathetic bunch. Witness the results of National Assessment of Educational Progress (or NAEP)—the "nation's report card"—which were released last month.
Michael Drazer: Alexandra Starr, over at Slate Magazine, has addressed the issue of why American teens seem to perform so poorly in...
John Cole: The kids aren't stupid- they are just smart enough to know when something doesn't matter: The fact that 8-year-olds...
Steve Bainbridge: Test Scores and Rational Choice — In Slate, Alexander Starr weighs in on the low test scores of US students:...
Kevin Drum: IS OUR KIDS LAZY?...Alexandra Starr writes in Slate that perhaps low high school test scores in the United States are...
Joanne Jacobs: Smart and lazy — U.S. high school students flub international exams and the National Assessment of Educational Progress...
Tyler Cowen: They do much better when something is on the line, here is the story.

Harry Belafonte Calls Black Republicans 'Tyrants'
  By / CNSNews   —   Permalink 
Atlanta (CNSNews.com) - Celebrity activist Harry Belafonte referred to prominent African-American officials in the Bush administration as "black tyrants" at a weekend march, and he also compared the administration to Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany.
John Hawkins: Here are a few quotes from some of the lefty loons at that march: From Harry Belafonte: [quote] "[If] a black is a tyrant, he...[end quote]
La Shawn Barber: At a march to commemorate the Voting Rights Act of 1965 last Saturday, Belafonte went on a tirade, calling black Republicans tyrants and likened the Bush Administration to Nazis.
Gary Farber: ACTUALLY, NO, THERE WEREN'T. This is from CNS, an unreliable source with an a right-wing ax to grind, so add much salt, but, no, really, in point of fact, there weren't.
Captain Ed: CNS News reports that Harry Belafonte once again sang a bit off-key while venturing into politics this past weekend,...
Orrin Judd: JOIN THE GOP AND GET TO BE A MASTER: Harry Belafonte Calls Black Republicans 'Tyrants' (Marc Morano, August 08, 2005,...
James Joyner: Harry Belafonte Calls Black Republicans 'Tyrants' [snipped quote] Most bizarre.
Also: Matthew Yglesias, Ann Althouse, Kathryn Jean Lopez

Of the Many Deaths in Iraq, One Mother's Loss Becomes a Problem for the President
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 7 - President Bush draws antiwar protesters just about wherever he goes, but few generate the kind of attention that Cindy Sheehan has since she drove down the winding road toward his ranch here this weekend and sought to tell him face to face that he must pull all Americans troops out of Iraq now.
Stephen Elliott: This leads to stories in the New York Times, CNN, the Chicago Tribune, and many more.
Steve M.: Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq last year and who wants to talk to President Bush in Texas, met the president in June 2004, two months after her son died.
Michelle Malkin: THE FRIENDS OF CINDY SHEEHAN *see updates* The Bush-bashing mother of a soldier who died in Iraq last year has garnered...
Dan @AndrewSullivan: She wants to meet with Bush so badly that she's—hey, if you're in Andrew's readership you know this already right?
Hilzoy @ObsidianWings: From the NYT: [quote] "Mr. Bush did not know her son's name when she and her family met with him in June 2004 at Fort Lewis.[end quote]
Barbara O'Brien: Richard Stevenson writes more about Cindy Sheehan in today's New York Times.
Also: Eric Boehlert, Joe @AmericaBlog, Zoe Kentucky

Republicans Run the Political Risk of Becoming Too Self-Reliant
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
Reward your friends. Punish your enemies. Unify the party. Marginalize the opposition.
These are the old-fashioned tools Republicans are using to entrench their control of 21st century Washington.
Digby: Dear Leader — Kevin points to this Ron Brownstein column in which Brownstein compares the Republican Party's governing style to North Korea.
Erick @RedState: Ron Brownstein And Self Reliant Republicans — I've generally liked Ron Brownstein, the Los Angeles Times political writer, but I have to say he must be smoking crack today.
Orrin Judd: OVERREACH IS THE MANTRA OF THE 40% PARTY: Republicans Run the Political Risk of Becoming Too Self-Reliant (Ronald...
Kevin Drum: JUCHE...With Nazi references now in ill repute thanks to Dick Durbin's inflammatory suggestion that we should aspire to...
Jason Van Steenwyk: LA Times columnist compares Republicans to North Korean government — You can't make this stuff up.

Former U.N. official pleads guilty, prosecutors say
  CNN   —   Permalink 
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) — A former U.N. procurement officer pleaded guilty to money laundering, wire fraud and conspiracy charges Monday after the United Nations stripped him of his diplomatic immunity, federal prosecutors said.
Paul @Wizbang: Former U.N. official pleads guilty, prosecutors say Oil-for-food probe accuses procurement officer of soliciting bribe...
Jan Haugland: Update 3: Yalekov has apparently been arrested: U.N. officials lifted Alexander Yakovlev's diplomatic immunity at the...
Captain Ed: Earlier today, CNN also reported that Alexander Yakovlev had his diplomatic immunity lifted by the UN and had been...

Peter Jennings Dies at 67
  ABCNEWS   —   Permalink 
Aug. 7 — ABC News Anchor Peter Jennings died today at his home in New York City. He was 67. On April 5, Jennings announced he had been diagnosed with lung cancer.
He is survived by his wife, Kayce Freed, his two children, Elizabeth, 25, and Christopher, 23, and his sister, Sarah Jennings.
Mark Kleiman: I was therefore a little bit surprised (and annoyed) to find that ABC News's eulogistic obit of Peter Jennings omitted any mention of smoking.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: PETER JENNINGS, R.I.P. I certainly didn't agree with all of the editorial positions that Peter Jennings took as the...
John Hawkins: Daily News For Aug 8, 2005 — Foreign "Trapped Russian Sailors Rescued By Brits" [snipped quote] "Britain: Militants Who...
Tarek @LiquidList: Media: Peter Jennings, R.I.P — I don't really blame Peter Jennings, or any of the other newscasters from the last twenty years, for the remarkable decline in that genre.
Joe Gandelman: ABC News has an extensive story and detailed bio of Jennings. It also has THIS MESSAGE BOARD where you can leave your thoughts.
Brian Stelter: Remembering Peter: "May God Bless His Soul," President Bush Says — Via ABCNews.com: "Laura and I were saddened to learn...
Also: James Joyner, Paul @Wizbang, Captain Ed, Jim Romenesko, Damian Penny, Montag, Michelle Malkin, John Cole, Gary Farber, Rickheller @Centerfield, Daniel Drezner, Cori Dauber, Cookie Jill, Orrin Judd, Jeff Goldstein, Orin Kerr, Patrick Ruffini, Ramesh Ponnuru, Ace, Joe @AmericaBlog, Tom @ScaredMonkeys

Treason threat cleric 'leaves UK'
  BBC   —   Permalink 
A controversial Islamic cleric has left the UK for the Middle East, his spokesman has said, amid speculation he would be investigated for treason.
Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed - former head of radical group Al Muhajiroun - left on Saturday for Lebanon, his colleague Anjem Choudary told the BBC.
John Cole: Don't Let The Doorâ Score one for having the courage of your convictions: A controversial Islamic cleric has...
Jan Haugland: Extremist Islamist flees Britain — The British government has been considering using treason charges against radical...
David T: More here.
Iain Murray: HE BRAVELY TURNED HIS TAIL AND FLED... Sheikh Omar Bakri, who said he would not tell the police if he knew about planned bombings, has fled the UK for Lebanon.

War Plans Drafted To Counter Terror Attacks in U.S.
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
COLORADO SPRINGS — The U.S. military has devised its first-ever war plans for guarding against and responding to terrorist attacks in the United States, envisioning 15 potential crisis scenarios and anticipating several simultaneous strikes around the country, according to officers who drafted the plans.
Jeffrey Dubner: My first question about the news that the Pentagon is planning a larger role in responding to future domestic terrorism was, "What happened to the Department of Homeland Security?"
Jo Fish: Is this making anyone else more than a little nervous? The 1600 Crew wants to have "contingency plans" in case the terrarists attack again.
John Cole: Ensuring Domestic Tranquility and Providing for the Common Defense I am sure this WaPo piece will create quite the...
Cernig: The Pentagon has revealed preliminary plans for guarding against and responding to terrorist attacks in the United States.
Susie Madrak: Hypothetically Speaking Under the circumstances, the Pentagon planning a military takeover "in case of multiple...
Jeff Goldstein: From the Washington Post: [snipped quote] Personally, I'm heartened to know that in the event of some domestic emergency,...
Also: Pudentilla

Pirro to Challenge Senator Clinton in '06
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Jeanine F. Pirro, a moderate Republican and high-profile district attorney of Westchester County, said today that she would challenge Hillary Rodham Clinton for her United States Senate seat in 2006.
DavidNYC @DailyKos: NY-Sen: Pirro to Challenge Clinton — I see this has already been diaried a bit, but in any event, it's official:...
Orrin Judd: NOW GET RUDY TO RUN FOR GOVERNOR: Pirro to Challenge Senator Clinton in '06 (PATRICK D. HEALY, 8/08/05, NY Times)...
Gerry Daly: Pirro to Challenge Senator Clinton in '06 — The New York Times: [snipped quote] I am surprised.
Taegan Goddard: Pirro Will Challenge Clinton — Westchester District Attorney Jeanine Pirro (R) said [snipped quote] the New York Times reports.

Judicial Cliches On Terrorism
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
Last week U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour sentenced a defendant to prison for plotting to bomb the Los Angeles airport. In the course of the sentencing, the judge criticized the Bush administration's post-Sept. 11 policies, such as the use of military tribunals and the detention of enemy combatants.
Avedon Carol: A moment of catch-up — And no sooner do I finally post about the four-day-old story of the judge who thinks the...
Hugh Hewitt: Judge Coughenour's windy rhetoric —which was really a lovce letter to himself stamped c/o ACLU— comes under the...
Michelle Malkin: Awaiting ACLU lawsuit and American Library Association protest... *** In related news, Eric Posner and Adrian Vermeule...
Tarek @LiquidList: Politics: Apples, Oranges and Your Civil LIberties — Eric A. Posner and Adrian Vermeule have a surprisingly weak op-ed...
Captain Ed: Eric Posner and Adrian Vermeule take apart Coughenour's legal reasoning as well in a Washington Post column this...
Pejman Yousefzadeh: "JUDICIAL CLICHES ON TERRORISM" — An excellent article by Eric Posner and Adrain Vermeule.
Also: Leon H, Cori Dauber, Glenn Reynolds

Intelligence chiefs warn Blair of home-grown 'insurgency'
  Independent   —   Permalink 
Intelligence chiefs are warning Tony Blair that Britain faces a full-blown Islamist insurgency, sustained by thousands of young Muslim men with military training now resident in this country.
Eugene Volokh: Knowing How to Use an AK-47: British intelligence is warning the British government about the risk of an Islamist...
Joe Gandelman: According to the Independent, intelligence chiefs are warning Tony Blair that he should brace himself for a long term...
Perry de Havilland: The Independent (or 'Al-Independent' as some of us like to call that bastion of Islamo-fascist apologists) has an...
Cernig: According to the Independent, Intelligence chiefs are warning Tony Blair that Britain faces a full-blown Islamist...
S.Z.: "Every One of Them Knows How to Use an AK-47" Britain has a problem—a huge problem that has been growing for decades,...
Evariste: Which he'll need, as his intelligence chiefs are warning him that Britain faces an Islamic insurgency at home, too.
Also: Michael Totten

The Novak Exception, Again
  WSJ   —   Permalink 
The media hive is once again stinging columnist Bob Novak, this time after he uttered an expletive and walked off the set during a live CNN program last Thursday. Since our name was taken in vain during the program, we thought we should correct the record.
PGL: It seems the WSJ op-ed folks have sounded a similar theme: "we warned that the media would regret their demand for a...
Brian Stelter: > The "liberal press pack" owes Robert Novak an apology, today's Wall Street Journal editorial board says.
Felix @MemeFirst: Unrequited love — The Wall Street Journal editorial page: "Mr. Novak doesn't need to apologize to anyone for his...
Josh Marshall: The Wall Street — Journal oped page — the folks who brought you 'Karl Rove, Whistleblower' — have unearthed the...
Jim Romenesko: WSJ: Carville is lucky Novak didn't punch him in the nose — Wall Street Journal WSJ editorial writers say members of...

Panel Chairman to Press Roberts on Cases
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 - In the first hint of how he will steer the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Judge John G. Roberts Jr., Senator Arlen Specter, the Judiciary Committee chairman, said Monday that he would press the nominee for his views on specific...
Joe @AmericaBlog: You know it's an interesting story when both the left and the right are invoking Chuck Schumer to describe Arlen...
Ann Althouse: "ARLEN SPECTOR SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE CHUCK SCHUMER," said Chuck Schumer.

Poll shows Clinton admired as leader, but divisive
  By / USA Today   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — A majority of Americans say they see Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as a strong leader who would deal effectively with terrorism if elected president, according to a USA TODAY-CNN-Gallup Poll released Monday. But most also say she is a polarizing figure who doesn't share their values.
Alexander K. McClure: First, I don't think Clinton needs to be softened up. A new national Gallup Poll indicates that the job is already done.
Taegan Goddard: Most See Clinton as a Strong Leader — A majority of Americans say they see Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) "as a strong...

Pentagon Plans to Send More Troops to Iraq
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - Anticipating a new burst of insurgent violence, the Pentagon plans to expand the U.S. force in Iraq to improve security for a planned October referendum and a December election.
Jim Henley: Because before you know it comes a story about how they're going to increase it, just for a little while.
The Farmer: Scooter and Judy and Steamed Rice - and more... Operation Yellow Elephant alert: Pentagon to expand opportunities for Young College Republicans.

God, Man and the Common Weal
  By / Opinion Journal   —   Permalink 
Although it appears the Iraqis are going to meet the Aug. 15 deadline for writing a new constitution, we shouldn't worry if they just can't do it "on time." It will certainly be dispiriting to many Iraqis and Americans—particularly in the Pentagon, where the...
TheAnchoress: Iraq Democracy seems doableâ That seems to be the message from Reuel Marc Gerecht in this WSJ piece.
Dean Esmay: God, Man, and the Commonweal by Dean AEI scholar Reuel Marc Gerecht has a simply dynamite piece in today's Wall Street...
JPod: A VERY IMPORTANT PIECE ON IRAQ...today in the Wall Street Journal by Reuel Gerecht makes the remarkable point that...

Volcker Gives New Oil-for-Food Report
  Fox News   —   Permalink 
NEW YORK — The next report highlighting failures of the U.N. Oil-for-Food (search) program was released Monday, just one day after one of the investigation's targets severed his ties to the United Nations.
Jan Haugland: UNSCAM report released — The Volcker committee has today released the third interim report into oil-for-food, and as expected it accuses Benon Sevan for taking kickbacks.
Kathryn Jean Lopez: ALEXANDER YAKOVLEV is the other ex-U.N. official Volcker hit today.
FrancoAlemán: FIRST HEADS rolling: "One of the targets U.N. Oil-for Food investigation, Alexander Yakovlev (search), was stripped of...

Peter Jennings, Urbane News Anchor, Dies at 67
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Peter Jennings, a high school dropout from Canada who transformed himself into one of the most urbane, well-traveled and recognizable journalists on American television, died yesterday at home. He was 67 and lived in Manhattan.
TV Review: Jennings Takes On U.N. Over Abuses in Bosnia
Tom Biro: As I read many accounts of his life and people's experiences watching him do the news, I can't help but think that many people felt the same way.
Megan McArdle: But at least one newsworthy event happened today: Peter Jennings died. The death of any human being is deeply tragic, of course.
Jim Romenesko: ABC News anchor Jennings dies "without pain and in peace" — New York Times | ABC News Peter Jennings, who died of lung cancer, was 67.
Avedon Carol: RIP: I was never in love with Peter Jennings, but there weren't a lot of actual newsmen left on-air on network television news, and it's a shame to see him go.
Brian Stelter: Remembering Peter: Morning Papers > Jacques Steinberg, New York Times: "It was a jarring departure for someone who for...
Montag: First from CNN, then from the NY Times and finally the definitive story from Jennings' station ABC News.
Also: Ezra Klein, Steve Antler, Gary Farber, Jeralyn Merritt, Garrett M. Graff

Clinton Is Cultivating an Image as a Centrist
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — It looked like a traditional event for a rural politician: A member of Congress, standing before a sweltering summer crowd, had come to toast a local Farm Bureau official.
Patterico: L.A. Times Determined to Beat Into Its Readers' Heads the Idea that Hillary Is a Centrist The L.A. Times reports on...
Orrin Judd: GOTTA VOTE THE TALK: Clinton Is Cultivating an Image as a Centrist: The partisan label she acquired as first lady is being remade in New York and the Senate.
Kathryn Jean Lopez: SPEAKING OF...BRING BACK THE CLINTON HATERS! From the LAtimes: [snipped quote] Why? Her record does not suggest a mod, peeps.
Justin Gardner: More About Hillary Moving Towards The Center — This time the LA times weighs in and takes a look at Hillary The Centrist.
Jayson @PoliPundit: Crafty — Here's an interesting quote from an unnamed Democrat strategist (tough job, huh?), to whom the L.A. Times...
TheAnchoress: But if one is being oneself, one needn't cultivate an image. If one is not being oneself, I suppose, then that's a different story.

IRAQ: Focus on boys trapped in commercial sex trade
  Reuters   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD, 8 August (IRIN) - Hassan Feiraz, a 16-year-old boy, has started a desperate new life since being forced into the sex trade in Baghdad, joining a growing number of adolescents soliciting in Iraq under the threat of street gangs or the force of poverty.
Susie Madrak: Better Off But you have to admit, the people of Iraq are much better off than they were under Saddam Hussein: ...
Jeralyn Merritt: Reuters: "Hassan Feiraz, a 16-year-old boy, has started a desperate new life since being forced into the sex trade in...

Family shakes up legal team to defend Saddam
  Reuters   —   Permalink 
AMMAN (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein's family scrapped the international team of attorneys claiming to be representing him on Monday and will pick a new set of heavyweight lawyers to defend him against war crimes charges, the family's lawyer said.
Gateway Pundit: Khalil al-Dulaimi was appointed as the sole legal counsel There's more at Reuters: "There are too many people in the...
Jayson @PoliPundit: Cry Me a River — Or not! P.S. - Maybe Reuters should go ahead and volunteer to defend Saddam in court.
Jeralyn Merritt: Shake Up Inside Saddam's Legal Team — Saddam Hussein's family has fired all his lawyers except one, Iraqi lawyer Khalil Dulaimi.

The Good News Bears
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
The polar bear has become the new poster animal for environmentalists, and I can understand why. When it comes to "charismatic megafauna" - the term used by marketing experts at conservation groups - the bear is a giant improvement over the giant panda.
Brad DeLong: John Tierney's piece is the nadir—with its closing line about how after global warming is well underway "the [polar]...
Matthew Yglesias: Municipal WiFi is so great that I won't even mention the giant corportions trying desperately to kill it. John Tierney.
Chris Mooney: With an opinion column penned over the weekend, the New York Times' John Tierney finally showed his true colors.
Ezra Klein: I just want to make sure I'm getting this right: The New York Times really has given a regular perch to a guy who thinks...

Planned Parenthood superhero terminates Christian protesters
  By / WorldNetDaily   —   Permalink 
An online animated video sponsored by Planned Parenthood's San Francisco-area branch features a superhero character drowning an abstinence promoter in a trash can and blasting into oblivion several pro-life picketers protesting in front of one of the organization's facilities.
Ace: World Net Daily comments on the piece. Thanks to Allah. Ironically enough.
Jeff Goldstein: a CITIZEN JOURNALIST decides to look on the bright side — Well, at least they didn't cast Val Kilmer or George Clooney in the starring role...* (h/t Allah)

Privacy Views: Roberts Argued Hard for Others
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Judge John G. Roberts Jr., President Bush's nominee for the Supreme Court, has written quite a bit in opposition to a constitutional right to privacy that has served as the basis for Supreme Court decisions protecting abortion and gay rights.
Jacob Sullum: How the Constitution Evolved Between 1981 and 1987 — A New York Times story about John Roberts' views regarding privacy...
Ann Althouse: Noting the belief that Robert Bork was defeated because he disaffirmed the right of privacy, Adam Liptak tries to...
Ramesh Ponnuru: THE IMPACT OF BORK — As Jacob Sullum notes, my old friend Laurence Tribe seems to be arguing that the Senate's...
Orrin Judd: Privacy Views: Roberts Argued Hard for Others (ADAM LIPTAK, 8/08/05, NY Times) [snipped quote] Strangely enough, the Constitution says the same thing.

Provision tells schools to grade students on subjects, not ideology
  By / Boston Globe   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — Congress is taking the first steps toward pressuring colleges to maintain ideological balance in the classroom, a move that supporters insist is needed to protect conservative students from being graded down by liberal professors.
John Cole: More Washington Idiocy And the war on the University continues: Congress is taking the first steps toward pressuring...
Jesse Taylor: The Academy No Longer Gives A F**k — The House is considering a bill that would ban professors from grading students based on their ideology.

Denver papers use liberal rules to boost circulation
  By / MSNBC   —   Permalink 
Denver's two daily newspapers are bulking up declining paid circulation by aggressive use of auditing rules that let them count readers who pay less than half-price for the papers — or sometimes nothing at all.
Tom Biro: Denver newspaper circ questions — The Denver Business Journal's Amy Bryer is critical towards the way that the Denver...
Jim Romenesko: Denver newspapers use liberal ABC rules to boost circulation — Denver Business Journal On an average weekday, more than...

FCC Hires Conservative Indecency Critic
  By / Mediaweek   —   Permalink 
The Federal Communications Commission has hired as an advisor an anti-pornography activist and former lobbyist for groups that push for Christian precepts in public policy. The move may herald a reinvigorated campaign against broadcast indecency and bring renewed pressure on cable to reconsider its racy offerings.
Michael @AmericaBlog: Now Martin has hired far right activist Penny Nance to "advise" him and reach out to Congress and the public.
Susie Madrak: The New Puritans I feel much purer now. Don't you?

Conservatives Remain Steady in Support of Roberts
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
The most ardent supporters of John G. Roberts Jr. have had a few moments of heartburn in the month since President Bush nominated him to the Supreme Court, but conservative advocacy groups say that nothing they have learned during the public dissection of his record has dampened their fundamental support.
Sam Rosenfeld: Which is to say that the majority of conservative activists who are remaining unified in their support for Roberts likely know what they're doing.
Mipe @ThinkProgress: Another invited speaker is Charles Colson â" better known for his history as one of President Nixon's "hatchet...

Aloha, Apartheid
  Opinion Journal   —   Permalink 
HONOLULU—For the seven million people who vacation in Hawaii every year, it is a magical island destination. For its 1.2 million residents, the 50th state is, in the words of its senior senator, Daniel Inouye, "one of the greatest examples of a multiethnic society living in relative peace."
Cernig: Aloha, Apartheid?. The Wall Street Journal takes on recent moves to create an independent, race-based government for Native Hawaiians.
MJA @SouthernAppeal: Race and Hawaii — John Fund writes about the recently inflamed racial tensions in Hawaii in this WSJ article.
Scott @PowerLine: In his 1855 letter to his old friend Joshua Speed, Lincoln wrote: [snipped quote] I leave it to you to draw the...

Rush and NPR find a new way into ears
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
STEVE JOBS HAS a good publicist. How else to explain July's monthlong media swoon over a phenomenon — podcasting — that is used by almost no one?
Granted, an ever-increasing number of Internet users are being added to the ranks of "almost no one," so that in the near future podcasting may be a technology used by "nearly someone."
Rex Hammock: Hello, all you "no ones":: (From the LA Times) "Steve Jobs has a good publicist.
Jim Romenesko: July was first-ever Official Podcasting Coverage Month — Los Angeles Times News organizations are swooning over a...

Time Fills Slot to Cover White House
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Mike Allen, a reporter for The Washington Post, said yesterday that he had accepted an offer from Time magazine to cover the White House. His hiring may have implications for the status of Time's other White House correspondent, Matthew Cooper.
Garrett M. Graff: Or, as he told the NYT today, "Walking into The Washington Post newsroom is like stepping onto the grass at Fenway."
Jim Romenesko: WP's Allen to cover White House for Time magazine — New York Times Mike Allen explains his decision to join Time this...
Sam Rosenfeld: I don't really have any speculation on what its significance might be for Matt Cooper's fate or the Plame saga, but the...
Kathryn Jean Lopez: MIKE ALLEN is moving from the Washington Post to Time. Eric Pffeifer buzzed about it last week.

Former UN oil-for-food head quits
  BBC   —   Permalink 
The former head of the United Nations' oil-for-food programme has quit the UN, lashing out at Secretary General Kofi Annan for "sacrificing" him.
Benon Sevan's announcement on Sunday came a day before a third report on the scandal-plagued programme is published.
Captain Ed: Sevan Quits Before He Gets Fired — In anticipation of a highly critical report coming from the Volcker Commission, UN...
Jan Haugland: Sevan quits the UN — UNSCAM update: The former head of the United Nations' oil-for-food programme has quit the UN,...
Marc @USSNeverdock: America - UN oil-for-food chief resigns — Good news from the BBC. [snipped quote] It's good for two reasons.
John Cole: Looks like the Volcker-led UN-Oil-For-Food investigation has claimed its first head: The former head of the United...
Pejman Yousefzadeh: I'VE SAID IT BEFORE . . . And I will say it again: Benan Sevan is looking to sell out the big fish.
Kathryn Jean Lopez: FORMER OIL-FOR-FOOD HEAD BENON SEVAN quits the U.N., accuses Annan of "sacrificing" him.

Al-Qaida is now an idea, not an organisation
  By / Guardian   —   Permalink 
So another blast and, a month or so later, another tape. This time it is Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian militant who has been the professional partner of Osama bin Laden for the best part of 15 years, who has surfaced on our screens.
Norm Geras: The threat and its implications — An article by Jason Burke on Friday (apropos Ayman al-Zawahiri's warning of further...
Barry L. Ritholtz: They also report "median home sale prices are still rising in Nassau and Suffolk, but at a slower rate." > Random...

Peter Jennings dies of lung cancer
  By / CNN   —   Permalink 
NEW YORK (CNN) — Nearly four months to the day since he announced in a hoarse voice on his evening newscast that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer, longtime ABC "World News Tonight" anchor Peter Jennings died Sunday, according to the ABC News network.
Brian Stelter: > Barbara Walters via CNN: "We had such wonderful memories, all of us, with Peter.
Joe Gandelman: ABC's Peter Jennings Is Dead — Peter Jennings, the Canadian native who succeeded on his second try to become ABC News'...
Michelle Malkin: CNN: [quote] Jennings, a native Canadian who became a U.S. citizen in 2003, said he would continue to host "World News Tonight" when possible.[end quote]
Talking Dog: Once again, why we span the metropole to bring you news from beyond just Oceania... we'll leave you with this discussion...
James Joyner: Peter Jennings dies of lung cancer (CNN) "Nearly four months to the day since he announced in a hoarse voice on his...
Cookie Jill: he was 67. - cnn one of his last interviews....with jon.

A Familiar Face in Millions of Homes for Decades
  AP   —   Permalink 
NEW YORK — Peter Jennings, the suave, Canadian-born broadcaster who delivered the news to Americans each night in five separate decades, died Sunday. He was 67.
Jennings, who announced in April that he had lung cancer, died at his New York home, ABC News President David Westin said late Sunday.
Brian Stelter: > Patricia Sullivan, Washington Post: "His well-rounded tones, world-savvy air and matter-of-fact delivery led 'World...
David Gerstman: But here's how the Washington Post describes Peter Jennings' coverage of the Munich massacre: [snipped quote] Here's what...
Ann Althouse: IF YOU SMOKE AND DIE OF CANCER, every obituary will take advantage of your death as an opportunity to remind the living to quit smoking.
Jim Romenesko: > Jennings had rigorous standards, was devoted to substantive stories (LAT) > "There had never been a run like...
Garrett M. Graff: The Washington Post calls him "a voice of the world," and the New York Times calls him "one of the most urbane, well-traveled and recognizable journalists on American television."
Oliver Willis: A Good Newsman — Peter Jennings has died.

Detainees under Harry Potter's spell
  By / Washington Times   —   Permalink 
Harry Potter's worldwide popularity is so broad-based that it has become favorite reading for Islamic terror suspects at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay.

"We've got a few who are kind of hooked on it.
Greg Piper: Terrorist suspects at Guantanamo love Harry Potter — Guess who's near the top of the request list for books among...
Joanne Jacobs: Wild about Harry — What are prisoners reading at Guantanamo Bay? Harry Potter books top the request list for Al Qaeda and Taliban detainees, says the camp librarian.
Michelle Malkin: GITMO READING LIST: HARRY POTTER TOPS — Rowan Scarborough of the Washington Times reports: [snipped quote] Wonder if...
Mark Krikorian: JUST LIKE THE GULAG — The latest Harry Potter book has become a favorite of the detainees at Gitmo.

ABC News Anchor Peter Jennings Dies at 67
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
NEW YORK - Peter Jennings, the suave, Canadian-born broadcaster who delivered the news to Americans each night in five separate decades, died Sunday. He was 67.
Jennings, who announced in April that he had lung cancer, died at his New York home, ABC News President David Westin said late Sunday.
TheAnchoress: At only 67, he was much too young to die. Heck, by CBS standards, he was in his prime and had a good 20 years to go before retirement.
Montag: This is what he said about anchoring the evening news: [snipped quote] Associated Press: ABC News Anchor Peter Jennings...
La Shawn Barber: From the AP: [snipped quote] Googlers are trying to find out if Jennings smoked.
James Joyner: Elsewhere: ABC News' Peter Jennings, five-decade network anchor, dies at 67 (USAT) ABC News Anchor Peter Jennings Dies...
Baldilocks: Peter Jennings — The long-time ABC News anchor succumbed to inoperable lung cancer.
Justin @SouthernAppeal: ABC News Anchor Peter Jennings Dies at 67: I haven't been around a computer or a television all day so I'm not sure if...
Also: Jayson @PoliPundit

Abuse Cases Open Command Issues at Army Prison
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
FORT BLISS, Tex., Aug. 4 - In a small courtroom at this vast Army training base, military prosecutors have been moving briskly to dispense with the cases they have filed in the brutal deaths in 2002 of two Afghan prisoners at the American military detention center in Bagram, Afghanistan.
John Cole: Finally, though, they are getting to the question that I am interested in: Along with other information that has...
Armando @DailyKos: The Buck Stops at Buck Private on Prisoner Abuse — The military under Bush has extended the "policy" of personal...
Susie Madrak: Caught in the Gears The rotten apples are still at the top of the tree: In the first interview granted by any of the...
Pudentilla: rummy sends a message to torturers: the brass will be protected - you won't — [snipped quote] because in red america,...

ABC News' Peter Jennings, five-decade network anchor, dies at 67
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
Jennings, who announced in April that he had lung cancer, died at his New York home, ABC News President David Westin said late Sunday.
"Peter has been our colleague, our friend, and our leader in so many ways. None of us will be the same without him," Westin said.
Tom Biro: My thoughts on Jennings — On Sunday, there was a lot of speculation about ABC World News Tonight anchor Peter Jennings...
Michelle Malkin: AP/USA Today: "Broadcasting was the family business for Jennings.
Joe Gandelman: USA Today notes: "With Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather, Jennings was part of a triumvirate that dominated network news for...

Peter Jennings
  ABCNEWS   —   Permalink 
Peter Jennings is the anchor and senior editor of ABC's "World News Tonight" where he has established a reputation for independence and excellence in broadcast journalism. He is the network's principal anchor for breaking news, election coverage and special events.
Brian Stelter: > Peter's ABC News and Wikipedia bios.
La Shawn Barber: Peter Jennings, 1938-2005 — PJJournalist Peter Jennings, who announced four months ago that he had lung cancer, is dead.
Fafnir: Peter Jennings — Now he belongs to the ages.
James Joyner: His ABC News bio has been updated with a breaking news blurb about his death but is still written in the present tense.
Cookie Jill: god speed peter nearly four months to the day since he announced in a hoarse voice on his evening newscast that he had...

That Hissing Sound
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Housing prices move much more slowly than stock prices. There are no Black Mondays, when prices fall 23 percent in a day. In fact, prices often keep rising for a while even after a housing boom goes bust.
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
John @PowerLine: In today's column, titled That Hissing Sound, Krugman says there is a housing bubble, and it's about to burst
Susie Madrak: Pop Krugman: Bubbles end when people stop believing that big capital gains are a sure thing.
CalculatedRisk: Krugman: That Hissing Sound — Dr. Paul Krugman writes in Monday's NY Times: "This is the way the bubble ends: not with a pop, but with a hiss.
Charles Kuffner: The local housing bubble — Paul Krugman writes about the national housing bubble.
Orrin Judd: That Hissing Sound (PAUL KRUGMAN, 8/08/05, NY Times) [snipped quote] It's strange enough that Mr. Krugman takes such...
Atrios: Bubblelicious — The shrill one has a good column on the housing bubble, though I worry he's contracted a wee case of Friedmanitis...

Islamist clerics face treason charges
  Guardian   —   Permalink 
The formal process will begin this week of "examining the potential for charging" three prominent Islamic clerics for existing offences including solicitation to murder and incitement to treason, the attorney general's office confirmed yesterday.
Arthur Chrenkoff: None dare call it treason... because no one knows what it is anymore — [snipped quote] The debate over the concept of treason is long overdue.
Jeff Jarvis: Treason British authorities are looking at charging Muslims clerics with treason, says the Guardian: The formal process...

Britain to rebrand ethnic minorities
  Times of London   —   Permalink 
THE Government is proposing to rename ethnic minority groups along US lines in an attempt to strengthen and highlight their British roots.
Minorities could be described as, for example "Asian-British" rather than simply as "Asian" under proposals being considered by Hazel Blears, the Home Office Minister.
John Cole: The Wrong Response to Terror Via the Brothers Judd, this silliness: THE Government is proposing to rename ethnic...
Jeff Goldstein: From the Times Online (UK): [snipped quote] A brief note to Ms Blears: Pride is personal and emotional and has no place—hyphenated or otherwise—in what is a legal descriptor.
Joe Gandelman: British Government Proposes PC Labels In War Against Terrorism — You'd think that the one thing the British government...
Marc @USSNeverdock: UPDATE See this Times (UK) article for more plans Britain has for hyphenating Britons.
Arthur Chrenkoff: Hyphenating Britons — The new-found fascination with the "American model" of multiculturalism continues: "The...
Iain Murray: BRITISH MULTICULTURALISM REFUSES TO DIE — Hazel Blears, Tony Blair's minister responsible for these things, has come up...
Also: Orrin Judd

Greta Van Susteren Cleans Up in Aruba
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
NEW YORK - Bringing a microphone and camera crew to the gates of an Aruba landfill this past week, Greta Van Susteren returned to the island that her nightly Fox News Channel program has figuratively called home recently.
Susanna Cornett: Read this from "Critics" of Greta Van Susteren and her coverage of Natalee Holloway's disappearance: "Critics find it an...
Dr. Steven Taylor: What? Is She Working for the Trash Company? Greta Van Susteren Cleans Up in Aruba
Kevin Aylward: Van Susteren's "On the Record" scored it's highest ratings ever. Greta Van Susteren Cleans Up in Aruba - [AP]

The Condi Doctrine
  By / Time   —   Permalink 
When visitors arrive to see Condoleezza Rice on the seventh floor of the State Department, they are seated down the corridor from Rice's office, in a drawing room decorated with patterned carpets, Georgian furniture and a grandfather clock.
Scott @PowerLine: " A bit of the same phenomenon (including a cameo appearance by Joe Biden) is at work in the Time story by Romesh Ratnesar on Secretary Rice: "The Condi doctrine."
Orrin Judd: WHAT HE SAID: The Condi Doctrine: After six months as Secretary of State, she has seized control over U.S. foreign policy.
Faiz @ThinkProgress: Condi's Reponse? : [quote] Rice told TIME she believes the insurgents are "losing steam" as a political force, even though their ability to kill and maim at will appears undiminished.[end quote]

A Hero in Every Aisle Seat
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
ONE survivor of the Air France crash in Toronto on Tuesday described the "panic" of his fellow passengers. Yet these people had just evacuated a burning plane in about two minutes.
Matthew Yglesias: Why not pretend I'm a car salesman? The Op-Ed You Actually Need To Read Baruch Fischhoff on responding to disaster.
Glenn Reynolds: LESSONS FROM THE NON-FATAL AIR FRANCE CRASH: [snipped quote] Indeed. David Gerstman has some thoughts.
Brad Plumer: Just Chill — When crises roll around, people don't panic nearly as much as we've been lead to believe, says Baruch Fischhoff: [snipped quote] Ditto for terrorist attacks, it seems.

Exclusive: CIA Commander: We Let bin Laden Slip Away
  Newsweek   —   Permalink 
What's this?
Aug. 15, 2005 issue - During the 2004 presidential campaign, George W. Bush and John Kerry battled about whether Osama bin Laden had escaped from Tora Bora in the final days of the war in Afghanistan.
John Cole: How Osama Got Away Rather than offer you an outright condemnation of Bush based on a blurb from a book that has not...
Barbara O'Brien: Today Newsweek reports that a CIA field commander says Osama bin Laden was allowed to get away at Tora Bora. "...in a...
Cookie Jill: "- newsweek"
Avedon Carol: Time for the Neocons to Shut Up - When Newsweek says we let bin Laden escape at Tora Bora, some people finally figure it's the last straw.
Norbizness: Tough times in the critical-of-the-Administr ation book-publishing cottage industry: "They're just holding the book," which is scheduled for October release, he says.
Armando @DailyKos: Not at Tora Bora via Kevin Drum, Newsweek reports that Bush was lying when he said that we would hunt down the perpetrators of 9/11.
Also: Steve Soto, Justin Gardner, Kevin Drum, Richard TPD, Hilzoy @ObsidianWings, Attaturk, Orrin Judd

Inquiry Into Lobbyist Sputters After Demotion
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — A U.S. grand jury in Guam opened an investigation of controversial lobbyist Jack Abramoff more than two years ago, but President Bush removed the supervising federal prosecutor and the inquiry ended soon after.
Josh Marshall: In that article, though, there's also this passage ... "In 2002, Abramoff was retained by the Superior Court in what was an unusual arrangement for a public agency.
Mark Kleiman: But of course it also seems far-fetched for Bush to have sacked the prosecutor in Guam who was going after Jack Abramoff three years ago.
Susie Madrak: Coming Attractions? Are we going to let them get away with it when they replace Patrick Fitgerald's boss?
Kevin Drum: Today, the LA Times reports that three years ago, when Abramoff's Guam lobbying became the target of an investigation,...
Barbara O'Brien: The real work of the Bush White House is corruption.
Cookie Jill: a picture of things to come in the plame investigation?

Rice: Insurgency Losing Political Steam
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the insurgency in Iraq is losing steam as a political force, even as Democratic congressmen warned Sunday that violence jeopardizes plans for withdrawing some troops.
TheAnchoress: I don't think you'll see much on the news about the find, though. You didn't, after all see much about this either.
Attaturk: So the Administration has turned to the next liar in line, Condi Rice, to make the following stupid remarks:...
Joe @AmericaBlog: Condi's delusions — Everything is just becoming hunky-dory: [snipped quote] Yeah, it's a lot easier to see the violence and suicide bombings because both are so prevalent.
McQ: Disagreeing about Iraq — Disagreement one: Condi Rice is of the opinion that the insurgency in Iraq is losing steam.
Jayson @PoliPundit: Condi Rice Says the terrorists in Iraq are losing steam, both militarily and politically.

Leak Investigation: An Oversight Issue?
  Newsweek   —   Permalink 
What's this?
Aug. 15, 2005 issue - The departure this week of Deputy Attorney General James Comey, who has accepted the post of general counsel at Lockheed Martin, leaves a question mark in the probe into who leaked the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Mark Kleiman: Would BushRove really use one of Bush's Skull-and-Bones classmates in the Justice Department to rein in Patrick Fitzgerald's inquiry into who burned Valerie Plame Wilson?
Steve Soto: Newsweek Confirms What We Had A Week Ago On Fitzgerald's New Boss — Newsweek "breaks" a story today that we had over a...
Joe @AmericaBlog: Bush Pal to Oversee Plame Leak Probe — Newsweek reports that there is possibly a new boss overseeing Fitzgerald:...
Josh Marshall: This passage comes at the end of Mike Isikoff's piece on who will have authority over the Fitzgerald investigation now...
Jeralyn Merritt: Newsweek: Fitzgerald Could Thwarted by Comey's Replacement — Michael Isikoff in Newsweek writes that when Deputy...
Cookie Jill: the skeleton's out of the closet fitzgerald's boss is probably going to be a bones man "associate attorney general...
Also: Judd @ThinkProgress

Judith Miller's Tale Under Scrutiny--At Her Own Paper
  By / Editor and Publisher   —   Permalink 
There are basically two possible and quite divergent scenarios surrounding jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller's involvement in the Plame/CIA leak case. It is quite possible that she had no ulterior or activist role in the leak and she really is just protecting her source(s) and her journalistic champions justifiably are standing by her.
John Cole: Daily Plame Flame Thread Not much on the Plame front, but there is this: There are basically two possible and quite...
Atrios: Judy Judy Judy — Will we ever get the truth... Here we have a hint of the "split" at The Times.
Mark Kleiman: Is the Times about to unleash Doug Jehl? Editor and Publisher says so. Arianna Huffington says so, and apparently has sources.
Susie Madrak: E&P goes for Judy's jugular, Digby wonders what the Times reaction to Judy's incarceration will be as events unfold...

The Right Time for An Islamic Reformation
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
When Sir Iqbal Sacranie, head of the Muslim Council of Britain, admitted that "our own children" had perpetrated the July 7 London bombings, it was the first time in my memory that a British Muslim had accepted his community's responsibility for outrages committed by its members.
Ramesh Ponnuru: SALMAN RUSHDIE AND ISLAM — Rushdie has written a very interesting op-ed arguing that Islamic "traditionalists" are hindering the fight against Islamic jihadists.
Jan Haugland: Islam needs a reformation — Salman Rushdie, who learned the dangers of militant Islam before the rest of the world...
Steve Antler: I don't think so... I am surprised how loosely informed Salman Rushdie is.
Joe Gandelman: Islam Needs A Revolution — Salman Rushdie, long a marked man for his book "The Satanic Verses" which earned him a death...
Tim Dunlop: And then let Salman Rushdie remind you of how seriously to take the PMs tough words: "When Sir Iqbal Sacranie, head of...
Cori Dauber: Now he writes in the Post about the implications of the London bombers being home grown, and about the responses of the British Muslim community to that fact.
Also: Marc @USSNeverdock, Pejman Yousefzadeh, Glenn Reynolds

Rich Liberals Vow to Fund Think Tanks
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
At least 80 wealthy liberals have pledged to contribute $1 million or more apiece to fund a network of think tanks and advocacy groups to compete with the potent conservative infrastructure built up over the past three decades.
Kevin: Filed under: Culture, Iraq No comment yet, add yours? » Democracy Alliance Posted by Kevin This is a good start...
Steve Soto: Simon Rosenberg, who led the creation of the New Democratic Alliance last year, and other donors have decided to pull...
Jo Fish: On a more positive note, it looks like some Democrats are finally going to get off their checkbooks and begin to fund some progressive advoacacy organizations.
La Shawn Barber: "Its staff members and board of directors will develop a lineup of established and proposed groups that they believe...
John Cole: Democratic Financiers 'ACTing' Up Again I guess now that ACT is dead, the money has to go somewhere: At least 80...
Avedon Carol: That's what I want — I see in the WaPo that rich liberals plan to give money to think-tanks and advocacy groups.
Also: Ken Masugi, Susie Madrak, Matthew Yglesias, Kos @DailyKos, Chris Bowers, John @AmericaBlog, Jayson @PoliPundit

Air America listeners to the rescue?
  By / Oregonian   —   Permalink 
There's, like, a major corporate financial scandal goin' down, dude. Some greed-head wheeler-dealer took almost a million in government funds intended for children and Alzheimer's patients and put the money into a private start-up company.
Brian Maloney: Noteworthy today: --- Oregonian Associate Editor David Reinhard makes a number of great new points in a Sunday op-ed...
Captain Ed: (Inspired by CQ reader Dan Kauffman) Michelle Malkin also points readers to David Reinhard's column in the Portland...
Marc @USSNeverdock: Mark Steyn and The Oregonian both have articles about the scandal. Mark also tackles the Democrats latest defeat.
Avedon Carol: The latest from the wingers on the AAR story is that we sweet bleeding-heart liberals should refund the money stolen by Republican operative Evan Cohen.
Michelle Malkin: Mark Steyn And see David Reinhard's delicious column today in the Portland Oregonian. It's a riot.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: ASKING THE HOWARD BAKER QUESTION — The Oregonian tackles the Air America scandal: [snipped quote] The rest of the article is a treasure trove of snark.
Also: Orrin Judd

Militants Who Praised London Attacks Could Face Treason
  AP   —   Permalink 
LONDON — British prosecutors said Sunday they would consider treason (search) charges against any Islamic extremists who express support for terrorism, as a Briton suspected of links to Al Qaeda (search) was deported from Zambia (search).
Damian Penny: Calling treason treason — The British government is considering laying treason charges against Islamic clerics who...
Tom Paine: My "Zionazi" extremist positions appear to have been taken on board by Number 10.

Bush's neocon friends shocked as he backs the Darwin-doubters
  Times of London   —   Permalink 
THE theory of intelligent design, which emphasises the role of a creator in the development of the universe, has received a boost from President George W Bush. He has called for it to be taught alongside evolution in schools, writes Sarah Baxter.
Avedon Carol: And wouldn't you know, someone jumped right in to prove it. (via) The Times reports that Krauthammer said something was...
Brad DeLong: Here we have Charles Krauthammer, who wrote that: Times Online: the idea of teaching intelligent design — creationism's "modern step-child" — was "insane".
Orrin Judd: THE AGONY OF THE NEOCONS: Bush's neocon friends shocked as he backs the Darwin-doubters (Sarah Baxter, 8/07/05, Times of...
James Wolcott: Courtesy of Raw Story comes the heroic tale fresh from the pages of the Times of London, which reported that a number of...
Roger Ailes: F**k Those Bastards In Kansas — So says the eminent Fraudian, Charles Krauthammer, who's up for a little realpolitik horse-trading: [snipped quote] Creationism is for the insane.

Saudis warned UK of London attacks
  Observer   —   Permalink 
Saudi Arabia officially warned Britain of an imminent terrorist attack on London just weeks ahead of the 7 July bombings after calls from one of al-Qaeda's most wanted operatives were traced to an active cell in the United Kingdom.
Captain Ed: Saudis Warned Brits Of An Impending Attack — Yesterday, the Observer reported that the Saudis officially warned Britain...
Jan Haugland: Saudis warned Britain before London bombings The Observer writes about the international links to the London 7/7...
Orrin Judd: NICE TO KNOW, BUT...: Saudis warned UK of London attacks (Martin Bright, Antony Barnett and Mohammed Alkhereiji, August...
Andrew Cochran: Also, today's London Observer reports that "Saudi Arabia officially warned Britain of an imminent terrorist attack on...
Armed Liberal: Four Guys From A Gym in Leeds. Right.
Justin Gardner: Were They Warned? Saudi Arabia says they alerted London that the bombings were going to take place.

Netanyahu Quits Over Israeli Gaza Pullout
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
JERUSALEM - Benjamin Netanyahu stepped down as Israel's finance minister Sunday in a last-minute protest against next week's Gaza pullout, but his stunned Cabinet colleagues pushed ahead and approved the first stage of the withdrawal plan just moments later.
Gateway Pundit: Gaza Tension Mounts, Netanyahu Resigns VIDEO OF RISING TENSION IN ISRAEL INCLUDING NETANYAHU'S RESIGNATION, HERE...
Roger L. Simon: Finance Minister (and former PM) Benyamin Netanyahu has just left the Israeli government because he thinks the Gaza...
James Joyner: Netanyahu Quits Over Israeli Gaza Pullout — Benjamin Netanyahu, a former Israeli prime minister who had been serving as...

Netanyahu: Pullout will worsen Israel's security
  By / Jerusalem Post   —   Permalink 
Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is in one of the most unenviable positions in Israeli politics today. He is attacked from the Left by the Prime Minister's Office and Ariel Sharon's supporters in the government, the Knesset and the press for his opposition to the disengagement plan.
Roger L. Simon: I hope he is wrong, but he makes cogent points in this interview with Carolyn Glick. UPDATE: Atlas Shrugs backs Eliot Jager's argument in support of Sharon.
Cliff May: The article can also be read here. And Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei tells a rally that Israel's Gaza withdrawal is just the beginning.

Can't hear you, dear ... blame my brain
  By / Scotsman   —   Permalink 
WHETHER it is to do the dishes, clean the car or vacuum the living room, men now have an answer to their wife's war cry that they never listen: it's not me, darling, it's my brain.
Amanda Marcotte: The next EP study will demonstrate that men are naturally impaired in the dish-washing department — This may be the...
Lindsay Beyerstein: In an article called Can't hear you, dear ... blame my brain, Steven McGinty presents the Sheffield results as a...

Iraqi insurgent writes of flawed leadership
  CNN   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD (CNN) — A letter apparently written by a rebel leader to terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi decries the insurgency's leadership in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a hotspot in the war.
Captain Ed: The letter does not claim glorious progress against the infidel invader; instead, it complains about the quality of...
Jan Haugland: A purported letter from a terrorist leader to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, intercepted by security forces, reveals ineffective leadership and loss of morale.
Bill Roggio: In Mosul, a letter from Abu Zayd (the "emir of Farming reform battalion on the west side") to Zarqawi is intercepted.
Steve M.: SUMMER RERUN — Today: A letter apparently written by a rebel leader to terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi...
TheAnchoress: US forces have intercepted a letter from Mosul area to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and it's full of complaints against their leadership.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: ALL IS NOT WELL IN INSURGENT-LAND — The story is here.
Also: Justin Gardner, Marc @USSNeverdock

Group files lawsuit to halt research at stem cell institute
  By / San Diego Union-Tribune   —   Permalink 
A national anti-abortion group yesterday served the administrators of California's stem cell institute with a federal lawsuit seeking to stop their work on the grounds that the civil rights of frozen embryos are violated by stem cell research.
Tbogg: Free the Sperm 200,000,000 or so... Could this be the slippery slope that will allow millions of sperm to sue an egg for alienation of affection?
Amanda Marcotte: Please tell me this is performance art — These people cannot be serious. It's not possible.

Convicted of Aiding Terrorist, Translator Prepares for Prison Cell, Still in Disbelief
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Mohamed Yousry, an Arabic-language translator, has been practicing for life in a prison cell. He closes himself into small spaces to meditate and combs through his library for nonpolitical books he supposes his keepers will allow him to read.
John Cole: Troubling story in the Times about the conviction of Lynne Stewart's translator: After working for nearly a decade as...
Jeralyn Merritt: John Cole writes about today's New York Times' article outlining the paltry evidence against Mohamed Yousry, defense...
Captain Ed: 'Just Following Orders' Is Never A Defense — The New York Times runs a sympathetic article on the plight of Mohamed Yousry in its Regional section this morning.

The Skinny on Politics
  NYT   —   Permalink 
Q: Congratulations on your new appointment as the chairman of the National Governors Association.
Thank you. I know it sounds impressive, but it may be one of those things for which I will need condolences in about six months.
Attaturk: This needs to be said — There is a LOT of over generalization about obesity in America, but this need not have been...
Ramesh Ponnuru: MIKE HUCKABEE VS. AMERICA — Q: "Do you think Americans are lazy?" A: "Without a doubt. . ." I'm not offended that Gov. Huckabee (R.
Nick Beaudrot: Grown-up Republican Watch — In an issue that's otherwise close to worthless, New York Times Magazine has an interview...

I still fight oppression
  By / Observer   —   Permalink 
Looking back on how his generation covered up the crimes of communism in the 1930s, WH Auden explained that he and his friends weren't true communists but fellow travellers. At home they defended civil liberties and stood up for freedom of speech.
Jan Haugland: In The Observer, he shoots back, comparing the way the left made excuses for Stalin earlier with the way they now make excuses for islamofascists.
Harry @HarrysPlace: Mind the gap — Nick Cohen in the Observer responds to his recent 'excommunication' from the left by pointing out the...
Marc @USSNeverdock: Britain - People Leaving the Left — Nick Cohen joins Keith Thompson and leaves the Left.
Norm Geras: Left against the left — Inna Tysoe responds in today's Media Guardian (free registration) to Peter Wilby's fatuous...
Chris Bertram: More Nick Cohen Nick Cohen has a column today entitled I still fight oppression . The theme is the familiar one of the moral failure of "the left".
Orrin Judd: COME ON IN, THE WATER'S FINE: I still fight oppression: The liberals who say I have deserted the left should ask...
Also: Pejman Yousefzadeh

Sex Offenders Banned From Storm Shelters
  AP   —   Permalink 
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Sex offenders tracked by the state are banned from public hurricane shelters in Florida under a new policy that allows them to weather the storms in prison instead.
Offenders who go to a prison will stay in areas such as visitor or meeting rooms, he said.
Jeralyn Merritt: That's what it's coming down to. Latest example: Florida has banned sex offenders from hurricane shelters.
Jayson @PoliPundit: States' Rights down in Florida. Ain't federalism grand, Sullivan?

Gibson asked to stage Christ's crucifixion
  AP   —   Permalink 
SYDNEY, Australia — Actor-director Mel Gibson has been asked to recreate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in the streets of Sydney if the city is selected to host a major Catholic gathering in 2008, a newspaper reported.
Talking Dog: Mel Gibson has been asked by his adopted homeland of Australia (he's a native of Westchester County's Peekskill, NY,...
Kathryn Jean Lopez: I'll be the first to admit, this promises to start getting a little weird to a lot of people.

Israel OKs 1st Stage of Pullout; Netanyahu Resigns
  AP   —   Permalink 
JERUSALEM — Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (search) resigned from his post Sunday to protest next week's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip (search) and part of the West Bank (search), a ministry spokesman said.
Forkum: Benjamin Netanyahu — Days before his resignation, Caroline Glick of The Jerusalem Post interviewed Benjamin Netanyahu:...
Paul @PowerLine: Bibi resigns — Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamim Netanyahu has resigned from his position as Finance Minister in...

Radicals warned of treason risk
  BBC   —   Permalink 
Islamist radicals who express support for terrorism may face treason charges, the Attorney General's Office has said.
Lord Goldsmith and the Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald have discussed action against three individuals, a spokeswoman said.
David T: Indviduals engaged in the recruitment process should be prosecuted for treason or terrorism-related offences.
Marc @USSNeverdock: Britain - Radicals warned of treason risk — Why isn't George Galloway at the head of this list? [snipped quote] Why just Islamist radicals?