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Archive Edition for   Saturday, August 13, 2005Go to Current Page
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Quoted in this edition:

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
Associated Press
  Tim Molloy
  Sameer N. Yacoub
  David B. Caruso
  Martha Mendoza
  Tom Hays
  Mark Sherman
  Angela K. Brown
  Michael Weissenstein
Balkinization
  Jack Balkin
Balloon Juice
  John Cole
BBC
Betsy's Page
  Betsy Newmark
BLACKFIVE
  Blackfive
Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal
  Brad DeLong
BrothersJudd Blog
  Orrin Judd
Captain's Quarters
  Captain Ed
Chicago Sun Times
  Roger Ebert
CJR Daily Home
  Paul McLeary
The Claremont Institute
  Ken Masugi
CNN
The Corner
  Kathryn Jean Lopez
  JPod
  Andy McCarthy
  John Podhoretz
  Iain Murray
  Warren Bell
corrente
  Lambert @Corrente
COUNTERCOLUMN
  Jason Van Steenwyk
The Counterterrorism Blog
  Andrew Cochran
Daily Kos
  Armando @DailyKos
  Plutonium Page
DC Media Girl
  DC Media Girl
Demagogue
  Frederick Maryland
Democratic Veteran
  Jo Fish
Donklephant
  Justin Gardner
  Montag
EdCone.com
  Ed Cone
Eschaton
  Atrios
Ezra Klein
  Ezra Klein
Fox News
Gateway Pundit
  Gateway Pundit
Guardian
  Howard Zinn
  Naomi Klein
  George Monbiot
Harry's Place
  David T
Herald Sun
Hit and Run
  Nick Gillespie
The Huffington Post
  Bob Cesca
  Harry Shearer
Hugh Hewitt
  Hugh Hewitt
Hullabaloo
  Digby
Independent
  Rupert Cornwell
Instapundit.com
  Ann Althouse
  Michael Totten
Investor's Business Daily
Julie Saltman
  Julie Saltman
JustOneMinute
  Tom Maguire
L.A. Observed
  Kevin Roderick
The Left Coaster
  Pessimist @LeftCoaster
  Steve Soto
The Light Of Reason
  Arthur Silber
Los Angeles Times
Majikthise
  Lindsay Beyerstein
Mark A. R. Kleiman
  Mark Kleiman
Mark in Mexico
  MarkInMexico
mediabistro
  Garrett M. Graff
  Brian Stelter
Michael J. Totten
  Michael J. Totten
Michelle Malkin
  Michelle Malkin
The Moderate Voice
  Joe Gandelman
MSNBC
  Peter Baker
MyDD
  Chris Bowers
NathanNewman.org
  Nathan Newman
The Nation
  David Sirota
National Review
  John Tamny
New York Post
  Deborah Orin
New York Times
  Michael Moss
  Adam Liptak
  Jim Dwyer
Newsday
  James T. Madore
NewsHog
  Cernig
normblog
  Norm Geras
Oliver Kamm
  Oliver Kamm
Outside The Beltway
  James Joyner
  Richard Gardner
Patterico's Pontifications
  Patterico
Pejmanesque
  Pejman Yousefzadeh
The Peking Duck
  Richard TPD
PoliBlog
  Dr. Steven Taylor
PoliPundit.com
  Alexander K. McClure
  Jayson @PoliPundit
Politics from Left to Right
  Chris Nolan
Power Line
  John @PowerLine
  Scott @PowerLine
  Paul @PowerLine
ProfessorBainbridge.com
  Steve Bainbridge
protein wisdom
  Jeff Goldstein
Publius Pundit
  Robert Mayer
QandO
  Jon Henke
  McQ
Rantingprofs
  Cori Dauber
RedState.org
  Pejman Yousefzadeh
Reuters
  Adam Tanner
Right Wing News
  John Hawkins
Rocky Mountain News
  M.E. Sprengelmeyer
Roger L. Simon
  Roger L. Simon
Romenesko
  Jim Romenesko
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  Robert L. Jamieson Jr.
Secular Blasphemy
  Jan Haugland
Silflay Hraka
  Blackavar
Sirotablog
  David Sirota
skippy the bush kangaroo
  RJ Eskow
Slate
  Timothy Noah
Suburban Guerrilla
  Susie Madrak
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire
  Taegan Goddard
Talking Points Memo
  Josh Marshall
TalkLeft
  Jeralyn Merritt
»«TBogg»«
  Tbogg
Tech Central Station
  Michael J. Totten
Think Progress
  Judd @ThinkProgress
TPMCafe
  Todd Gitlin
USS Neverdock
  Marc @USSNeverdock
Vodkapundit
  Stephen Green
Wall Street Journal
  Tim Annett
War and Piece
  Laura Rozen
The Washington Monthly
  Kevin Drum
Washington Post
  Ellen Knickmeyer
  Dana Milbank
  Dan Eggen
  John McWhorter
  Michael A. Fletcher
  Peter Baker
  Henry A. Kissinger
  E. J. Dionne Jr.
  Jonathan Finer
Washington Times
  Donald Lambro
Wizbang
  Paul @Wizbang



Suspected Chemical Weapons Plant Uncovered in Mosul
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD, Aug. 13 — U.S. troops raiding a warehouse in the northern city of Mosul uncovered a suspected chemical-weapons factory containing 1,500 gallons of chemicals believed destined for attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces and civilians, military officials said Saturday.
Bob Cesca: The fledgling weapons indsutry faced its first obstacle near Mosul Saturday as American forces discovered and seized 1,500 gallons of chemicals in a warehouse there.
Captain Ed: WMD Found In Iraq — The Washington Post reported while I was in flight to Nashville this afternoon that American troops...
Andrew Cochran: I know it's too early to go out on a limb, but the discovery of a chemical weapons factory in Mosul with 1,500 gallons...
TheAnchoress: WMD in Iraq WaPo reports: U.S. troops raiding a warehouse in the northern city of Mosul uncovered a suspected chemical...
Richard Gardner: Suspected Chemical Weapons Plant Uncovered in Mosul — Suspected Chemical Weapons Plant Uncovered in Mosul (WaPo) The...
Jack Balkin: The Washington Post reports: [snipped quote] If these reports are true, it would not be the only bitter irony of this ill-advised war.
Also: Atrios, Dr. Steven Taylor, Mcjoan @DailyKos, Orrin Judd

Experimental Hybrid Cars Get Up to 250 Mpg
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
CORTE MADERA, Calif. - Politicians and automakers say a car that can both reduce greenhouse gases and free America from its reliance on foreign oil is years or even decades away. Ron Gremban says such a car is parked in his garage.
Jayson @PoliPundit: Capitalism — I found this article about hybrid cars to be quite in-ter-es-ting. Certain prototypes get 250 mpg, huh?
James Joyner: Experimental Hybrid Cars Get Up to 250 Mpg (AP) [snipped quote] This is hardly a practical solution for a family vacation but would meet the needs of most commuters.
Paul @Wizbang: "Experimental Hybrid Cars Get Up to 250 Mpg " bogusprius.jpg I want a modified Prius that gets 250mpg, don't you?
Orrin Judd: SPEAKING OF OIL BUBBLES...: Experimental Hybrid Cars Get Up to 250 Mpg (TIM MOLLOY, 8/13/05, Associated Press)

Democrats Conflicted on Playing Rough
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
The decision by the abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America to pull an incendiary ad attacking President Bush's nominee to the Supreme Court has produced a fresh round of recriminations within the Democratic Party and a return to a nagging question: Has the opposition lost its nerve?
Ken Masugi: Political Brawls: The Beltway Mentality — This is an almost perfect presentation of how Beltway politicians (and media)...
DC Media Girl: From the Washington Post: The decision by the abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America to pull an incendiary ad...
Michelle Malkin: "The Washington Post reports that Democrat strategists are in whiny, chin-pulling mode: "Some Democratic operatives say their trouble is congenital.
Kevin Drum: AD WARS...Dana Milbank writes today about the liberal response to NARAL's recent ad attacking John Roberts:...
John Podhoretz: Check out Dana Milbank in the WaPo today and listen to Bob (I've Lost 7 Presidential Elections!)
Orrin Judd: JUST THE ISSUES: Democrats Conflicted on Playing Rough: Lack of Support for Roberts Ad Raises Question of Tactics (Dana...
Also: K-Lo, PoliPundit

U.S. Struggling to Get Soldiers Improved Armor
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
For the second time since the Iraq war began, the Pentagon is struggling to replace body armor that is failing to protect American troops from the most lethal attacks by insurgents.
The ceramic plates in vests worn by most personnel cannot withstand certain munitions the insurgents use.
Brad DeLong: U.S. Struggling to Get Soldiers Improved Armor - New York Times: MICHAEL MOSS: [T]he Pentagon is struggling to replace...
Jason Van Steenwyk: Body armor: The goalposts move again — The New York Times finally acknowledges that the US had gotten body armor to...
Judd @ThinkProgress: Troops still don't have the armor they need
RJ Eskow: the turkey flies at dawn — Turkey official bird of the bush pentagon let's see: we still haven't got that whole body...
Joe @AmericaBlog: The NY Times just posted an article, "U.S. Struggling to Get Soldiers Improved Armor." That's right.

U.S. Lowers Sights On What Can Be Achieved in Iraq
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
The Bush administration is significantly lowering expectations of what can be achieved in Iraq, recognizing that the United States will have to settle for far less progress than originally envisioned during the transition due to end in four months, according to U.S. officials in Washington and Baghdad.
Atrios: Senior Administration Officials: Damn We Were F**king Stupid — WaPo: The Bush administration is significantly lowering...
Laura Rozen: Further lowering of US expectations in Iraq. Frank Rich on the endgame.
Digby: The Biggest Strategic Blunder In American History — We broke it, we bought it and now we are throwing it in the trashcan Yes, very noble.

No Evidence Pentagon Knew of Atta, Panel Says
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Investigators for the Sept. 11 commission have found no evidence to support allegations by a House Republican that lead hijacker Mohamed Atta was identified by a classified Pentagon program before the 2001 attacks, according to a commission statement issued last night.
Jeff Goldstein: Metaphorically speaking, of course. **** update: Jim Geraghty and Captain Ed take on emerging spin, proffered by 911...
Betsy Newmark: Jim Geraghty isn't too impressed with the statement by Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton that the briefing they got on Able...
Tom Maguire: The stage is set for the Sunday talk-show brawls! [The NY Times and the WaPo pick this up. Focus on the Times, which buries two great tidbits.
Cori Dauber: The 9/11 Commission Hits Back — Their statement from last night: a review of their staff's notes from the relevant...
Captain Ed: Able Danger 'Not Historically Significant': Commission — The Washington Post and the New York Times report extensively...
Laura Rozen: Update: Here's a good analysis from Kevin Drum: [snipped quote] More from the Post's Dan Eggen.

Iraqis: Constitution Will Beat Deadline
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi leaders rushing to finish a constitution Saturday reported tentative agreements on distribution of oil wealth and other issues, but there was no deal on the main obstacle: federalism.
Robert Mayer: President Talabani thinks so. In fact, he's saying that it will be done early.
Jayson @PoliPundit: Democracy in Action in Iraq.
Dr. Steven Taylor: Iraqi Constitution Update — Iraqis: Constitution Will Beat Deadline [snipped quote] We shall see.
John @PowerLine: Iraqis Agree to Share Oil — Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said today that he expects a finished constitution to be...
Ann Althouse: President Talabani predicts they'll be done Sunday, a day early: "We have reached agreements on many points but I am not...

Bush hints at military option for Iran
  Herald Sun   —   Permalink 
US President George W Bush refused to rule out the use of force against Iran over the Islamic republic's resumption of nuclear activities, in an interview with Israeli television.
When asked if the use of force was an alternative to faltering diplomatic efforts, Bush said: "All options are on the table."
Pessimist @LeftCoaster: Cindy Sheehan traveled to Crawford, Texas to tell George W. Bush that it was time to admit the error and end the...
Joe Gandelman: Bush Suggests Military Force Is Option For Iran — President George Bush has come out and said it: military force is an...
Susie Madrak: Reassuring He's promising the same great strategy that worked so well in Iraq, and yet the U.S. press is still asleep: ...
Justin Gardner: Bush Talks Tough On Iran — From The Herald Sun: [snipped quote] Here's the problem with this.
Arthur Silber: THE CHEAPEST DATE IN THE WORLD — Iran Watch continues: [snipped quote] And so the familiar dance is performed once again.

Bush raises option of using force against Iran
  Reuters   —   Permalink 
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President Bush said on Israeli television he could consider using force as a last resort to press Iran to give up its nuclear programme.
"All options are on the table," Bush, speaking at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, said in the interview broadcast on Saturday.
Josh Marshall: With President Bush again stating that force is still on the table against Iran, albeit only as the last resort, German...
Joe @AmericaBlog: Bush says he'd use force against Iran — Oh great...we don't even have enough armor for our troops in Iraq, and he's making noises about Iran.

No clear finish line in Iraq
  By / MSNBC   —   Permalink 
The Bush administration has sent seemingly conflicting signals in recent days over the duration of the U.S. deployment to Iraq, openly discussing contingency plans to withdraw as many as 30,000 of 138,000 troops by spring, then cautioning against expectations of any early pullout.
Mark Kleiman: From today's WaPo: At his meeting with his war cabinet yesterday, Bush reviewed the latest developments but reported no new direction.
Atrios: "The Wheels are Coming Off It" — McCaffrey: [quote] "It's a race against time because by the end of this coming summer we can...[end quote]
James Joyner: Lessons for an Exit Strategy (WaPo, A19) MSNBC "A review of withdrawal strategy therefore seems in order.

Burned, Baby, Burned
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
While many people this month are focused on the controversy surrounding the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, I have another civil-rights-related 40th anniversary on my mind. On Aug. 11, 1965, the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles broke out in flames on the nation's television screens.
Todd Gitlin: John McWhorter's Bad Dream — From: Society and Culture In a peculiarly phantasmagorical piece in today's Washington...
Roger L. Simon: "Acting Out" on all sides — Most op-eds are as ephemeral as the wind... or should I say hot air?... and would be...

Court Finds Bias in Policy of Schools for Hawaiians
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
The Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii are practicing unlawful race discrimination by restricting enrollment to Native Hawaiian children, a federal appeals court panel in San Francisco ruled yesterday.
Nathan Newman: A bit late to strike down all the old Jim Crow institutions, but just in time to eliminate a program benefitting the native Hawaiian descendants of American colonialism.
Julie Saltman: The other affirmative action case — I missed this last week, but the Ninth Circuit ruling on the Hawaiian school's race-based admissions policy came down.

N.Y. Community Center Loan Investigated
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
NEW YORK - State and city officials are investigating how $875,000 from a community center funded largely by government grants and contracts wound up in the coffers of Air America, the liberal radio network.
Michelle Malkin: AIR ENRON: THE DAM BURSTS — DarleenClickAAR1.jpg Despite liberals' insistence that the Air America / Gloria Wise story...
Jayson @PoliPundit: The Media Discovers the Air America Scandal — Merely a couple of weeks after the blog-o-sphere had picked it up.
Captain Ed: Air America: The Exempt Media Coverage — Remember that "phony", "undersourced" story that came from the overactive imaginations of the right wing blogosphere?

Cindy Sheehan's Pitched Battle
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 12 — Cindy Sheehan vaulted into national consciousness this month on the power of her story as the grieving mother of a fallen soldier.
But what began as a solitary campaign to force a meeting with President Bush by setting up camp along the road to his ranch has quickly taken on the full trappings of a political campaign.
Cori Dauber: It's bereaved mother (and no one doubts the sincerity of her grief or her political attitudes) not quite alone, but...
Joe @AmericaBlog: Front Page of Wash. Post for Cindy Sheehan — Wash. Post has Cindy's story on the front page above the fold:...
Michelle Malkin: YES, CINDY SHEEHAN CHANGED HER STORY — You have to scroll all the way down to the 18th paragraph in this front-page...

Normal Life Ended for Protesting Mother
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
VACAVILLE, Calif. - Before her son was killed in Iraq, before she began a peace vigil outside President Bush's Texas ranch, before she became an icon of the anti-war movement and the face of grieving mothers, there was a time when Cindy Sheehan's life was, by all appearances, incredibly normal.
Richard TPD: The stakes are very high. Update: A massive new article on Sheehan just came out, and it's great.
Atrios: It's the Little Things — Reader b writes in about this AP story about the Sheehans: Normal life ended for Cindy Sheehan...

Vast Archive Yields New View of 9/11
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Faced with a court order and unyielding demands from the families of victims, the city of New York yesterday opened part of its archive of records from Sept. 11, releasing a digital avalanche of oral histories, dispatchers' tapes and phone logs so vast that they took up 23 compact discs.
Cori Dauber: So no real thought has been given to what the EMS people were doing and their experiences have in fact been cut out of...
Ed Cone: 9/11 documents released, discussed — The New York Times has an archive of oral histories of 9/11 released by the City of New York, and a cache of audio files, too.

Security Cameras Multiply in Manhattan
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
NEW YORK - Six surveillance cameras could be seen peering out from a chain drug store on Broadway. One protruded awkwardly from the awning of a fast-food restaurant. A supersized, domed version hovered like a flying saucer outside Columbia University.
James Joyner: Security Cameras Multiplying in American Cities — Security Cameras Multiply in Manhattan (AP) [snipped quote] It's sad...
Jeralyn Merritt: Smile: Manhattan is One Big Camera — ACLU interns this summer have been counting the proliferation of cameras taking...

It is not only Iraq that is occupied. America is too
  By / Guardian   —   Permalink 
It has quickly become clear that Iraq is not a liberated country, but an occupied country. We became familiar with that term during the second world war. We talked of German-occupied France, German-occupied Europe. And after the war we spoke of Soviet-occupied Hungary, Czechoslovakia, eastern Europe.
Oliver Kamm: It may be. The second example is an op-ed from today's Guardian, by the venerable radical historian Howard Zinn.
Norm Geras: Yesterday we had Howard Zinn telling us that America is under occupation.

Career Lawyer Gets Oversight of CIA Probe
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - David Margolis, a lawyer at the Justice Department for 40 years, was named Friday to oversee a special prosecutor's investigation of who in the Bush administration disclosed the name of an undercover CIA officer.
Comey will be Lockheed Martin's new general counsel.
Mark Kleiman: Career prosecutor to supervise Plame probe — On his way out the door, Deputy Attorney General James Comey, who chose...
John Cole: And Speaking of Paranoid and Delusional It looks like the previous speculation about the replacement of the overseer...
Laura Rozen: Plame prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's new boss.
Tom Maguire: Tidbits On The Plame Investigation — Special Counsel Fitzgerald has a new boss, a forty year DoJ veteran; JeraLynn...
Jeralyn Merritt: Comey himself made the designation today before he left...it will be David Margolis, who has been a Justice Department lawyer for 40 years.
Joe @AmericaBlog: Career Lawyer, not Skull and Bones Pal, to head Plame Case — This is an interesting development.

Seebach: Radio's Hewitt has offer journalists must refuse
  Rocky Mountain News   —   Permalink 
Radio talk-show host Hugh Hewitt is also a lawyer, an author, a blogger and a former colleague of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts Jr.
On July 29, he said on his blog Hugh Hewitt.com that he'd been called by a Washington Post reporter who wanted to interview him about Roberts.
Patterico: Seebach has expanded her comments into a column for her paper. She kindly mentions this blog in the column, for which I thank her.
Hugh Hewitt: Many of you have e-mailed me the column from the Rocky Mountain News' columnist Linda Seebach on my policy of giving John Roberts-related interviews only on air.

Mother's war protest veers onto wrong path
  By / Seattle Post-Intelligencer   —   Permalink 
President Bush could end the shenanigans of the military mom turned antiwar poster child who is camped outside his Texas vacation ranch.
All he has to do is meet with the grieving woman.
Michelle Malkin: On a related note, liberal Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Robert Jamieson candidly criticizes Mrs. Sheehan's...
TheAnchoress: Still, his words are worth reading: Trouble is Sheehan is not sincerely interested in meeting Bush for a private,...

Racism is the terrorists' greatest recruitment tool
  By / Guardian   —   Permalink 
Hussein Osman, one of the men alleged to have participated in London's failed bombings on July 21, recently told Italian investigators that they prepared for the attacks by watching "films on the war in Iraq", La Repubblica reported.
David T: Half Right — Naomi Klein's comment piece in the Guardian today contains much which is familiar.
Norm Geras: Today, it's the return of Naomi Klein. The 'two main causes' of terrorism, according to her? Racism and torture. Our fault.

Dangerous Days
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
"The judicial court of the Organization of al Qaeda in Iraq has ruled that it is a duty to uphold God's law and kill those who have declared themselves God's partners in drafting this constitution."
Armando @DailyKos: WaPo Ed Board: An Arm of BushCo — The WaPo Ed Board is shameless.
Cori Dauber: It's the Little Things — One of the most important news items of the last week finally appears — on the Washington Post editorial page.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: True Intentions — The Washington Post sees the terrorists in Iraq for what they are

Top Calif. court revives Schwarzenegger ballot item
  By / Reuters   —   Permalink 
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - In a victory for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, California's Supreme Court overturned two lower courts on Friday and put back on the ballot a voter initiative that will determine who draws up California's state legislative districts.
Betsy Newmark: The California State Supreme Court just handed Schwarzenegger a victory in getting his reform of redistricting procedures onto the ballot.
Jayson @PoliPundit: CA Re-Districting Back on Tap — So says the California Supreme Court. Hat tip: Jon Sandor.
Joe Gandelman: UPDATE: But now the state Supreme Court has handed Schwarzenegger a major victory: it has ordered his controversial...

Chaos of 9/11 revealed in vivid oral histories
  MSNBC   —   Permalink 
NEW YORK - In thousands of pages of oral histories released Friday, firefighters describe in vivid, intimate detail how they rushed to save fleeing civilians from churning smoke and fire before the World Trade Center collapsed in a monstrous cloud of debris and choking dust.
Cori Dauber: It was interesting that last night NBC's piece on the release built into the story selections from the tapes, chilling, putting you right back into the day.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: FIREFIGHTERS REMEMBER 9/11 — Just read.
Tbogg: Profiles in Courage — On 9/11: "The World Trade Center Tower No. 1 is on fire!" one firefighter radioed.

NARAL Communications Director Resigns
  Fox News   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — The communications director of a major abortion-rights lobby group announced Friday that he was resigning immediately, following an announcement by the organization that it would pull an inflammatory TV ad about Supreme Court nominee John Roberts (search).
Michelle Malkin: The group's communications director has "resigned", and as Tigerhawk notes: "I find it hard to believe that NARAL's...
MarkInMexico: Main Page NARAL communications director resigns NARAL communications director David Seldin resigned abruptly Friday...

Knowing When to Say 'When'
  By / WSJ   —   Permalink 
The Federal Reserve has been moving interest rates higher for more than a year. Will it know when to quit?
By a narrow margin, economists surveyed in the latest Wall Street Journal Online forecasting survey say they think there's a greater risk the Fed will go too far in its campaign of rate increases than it will stop short of what's needed.
Orrin Judd: STOP THEM BEFORE THEY KILL AGAIN: Knowing When to Say 'When': Economists Expect Rates to Reach 4.5%, But Will the Fed 'Overshoot' Its Target?
Brad DeLong: Views on the Greenspan Succession — Tim Annett takes a poll of economists: Tim Annett: Economists were divided on the...

The Scary Side of Ben Bernanke
  By / NRO   —   Permalink 
Last Friday's Wall Street Journal reported that Larry Lindsey has been added to President Bush's short list of potential replacements for Alan Greenspan at the Federal Reserve. Martin Feldstein, Glenn Hubbard, and Ben Bernanke are the other three most prominently mentioned, with Bernanke the frontrunner on Tradesports.com.
PGL: Tamny's Triple Threat to Understanding Basic Economics — Brad DeLong reads John Tamny and somehow retains the clarity...
Brad DeLong: I'm just going to deal with the first piece of horsesh-t I come across: John Tamny on Ben Bernanke and the Federal...

Physics enlisted to help singles
  BBC   —   Permalink 
Successful couples are said to have chemistry, but a study by an Oxford graduate suggests that dating may actually have more to do with physics.
Richard Ecob adapted a system for modelling atoms in radioactive decay to investigate how we look for partners.
Plutonium Page: Today, I came across this article on the BBC News site: Physics enlisted to help singles I'm serious.
Ann Althouse: The BBC has this: [snipped quote] I'm guessing Ecob is remaining in one place waiting another to come to him.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: THE PHYSICS OF LOVE — I really don't know how seriously I am supposed to take this: [snipped quote] There is no word on the romantic fate of the Pejmanotron .

Heat dashes Palestinian quest for longest sandwich
  Reuters   —   Permalink 
Palestinians abandoned a quest to build the world's longest sandwich on Wednesday after health officials told them their 750-meter construction risked rotting in the West Bank summer sun.
Joe Gandelman: Heat Bites Palestinian Crusade For Longest Sandwich — There has been a new tragedy in the Middle East: heat nixed...
JPod: WHAT A TRIUMPH FOR AN ABORNING NATION IT WOULD HAVE BEEN — Palestinians have to abandon their quest to build the world's biggest sandwich.
Blackavar: Palestinian Sandwich Hopes Dashed — Hmmmm... According to Ha'aretz, "Heat Dashes Palestinian Quest for Longest Sandwich."

"Sucker"
  NRO   —   Permalink 
Does Cindy Sheehan know what her new allies think of her son and his brothers?
As anyone who watches television knows, Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq, has camped out in Crawford, Texas, demanding that the president meet with her.
TheAnchoress: I know the people you are now hanging out with do not call him a nobleman - they call him a fool, but he was, in fact, a noble man.
Scott @PowerLine: Today in "Sucker" Mac takes a look at the friends of Cindy Sheehan.

In Iraq, No Clear Finish Line
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
The Bush administration has sent seemingly conflicting signals in recent days over the duration of the U.S. deployment to Iraq, openly discussing contingency plans to withdraw as many as 30,000 of 138,000 troops by spring, then cautioning against expectations of any early pullout.
Harry Shearer: Peter Baker in the Washington Post chews over the same question, and buries the lede magnificently, waiting until...
Digby: In a story called "No Clear Finish Line" Peter Baker examines the fact that the administration is really becoming stuck in its Iraq policy as the country turns against the war.
Michael @AmericaBlog: The Washington Post called the confusion a case of "seemingly mixed signals" and suggested Bush's people were no clearer than anyone else about what should be happening or when.
Justin Gardner: And from the looks of this Washington Post article, I'm not the only one who's scratching my head.
Frederick Maryland: Iraq: Out of the Frying Pan and Into the ... As the Washington Post reports, President Bush yesterday tried to reframe...
James Joyner: Reporter Peter Baker adds to this with an op-ed (er, "Analysis") on page 1 of the same edition: In Iraq, No Clear Finish...
Also: Steve Soto, Orrin Judd

Intelligence? You Kidding Me?
  NRO   —   Permalink 
James Jesus Angleton on "Able Danger."
At first I thought there was a short circuit in the ouija board, because there were sparks coming out of the thing, just when I thought I'd finally connected with my old friend, the late James Jesus Angleton, former head of CIA counterintelligence.
PGL: Michael Ledeen apparently has more definitive evidence from James Jesus Angleton - former head of CIA counterintelligence.
Andy McCarthy: RE: ABLE DANGER — To pile on J-Pod's comments about the usability by law enforcement of intelligence gathered by the...
Jan Haugland: The ghost of intelligence failures past — Michael Ledeen channels James Jesus Angleton (I mean, through his...
Kevin Drum: "Clinton, Berger, and the others didn't want to have to act against terrorist groups inside the United States, so the...
Roger L. Simon: I think it was a someone named Angleton (?) talking in a distant voice about security matters with my guest who apparently believes in ghosts: JJA: It wasn't illegal, first of all.
Scott @PowerLine: UPDATE: At NRO, Michael Ledeen adds an important qualification to the issue: "Intelligence? You kidding me?"
Also: Kathryn Jean Lopez

Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
  By / Chicago Sun Times   —   Permalink 
"Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo" makes a living cleaning fish tanks and occasionally prostituting himself. How much he charges I'm not sure, but the price is worth it if it keeps him off the streets and out of another movie.
Joe Gandelman: Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo Is Not Seductive — You can almost sense film critic Roger Ebert wishing he had 10 thumbs...
John Hawkins: "Moonbat Central" "A North American Patriot" "Power Line Blog News" "PunditGuy" "Roger Ebert's Brutally Funny Review Of...
Stephen Green: Short & Sweet Movie Review — "Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks." I told you so.
John Cole: No Stars for the Man-Whore Via Gary Farber, this Roger Ebert take-down of Rob Schneider and Deuce Bigalow II.
Gary Farber: I HAPPEN TO HAVE MARSHALL MCLUHAN STANDING RIGHT HERE. Roger throws down on Rob Schneider. [snipped quote] Zero stars.

Pape-al Fallibility: It's Not All About Us
  By / TCS   —   Permalink 
Islamists have killed thousands of Westerners over the past couple of years — thousands in New York City alone. But they have killed far more of their own fellow Muslims in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, and too many other places to list.
Jan Haugland: 'It's not about us' — Michael Totten has written a must-read article about the war on terror, emphasising that it is...
Marc @USSNeverdock: Islam - Terrorism: It's Not About Us — It's about them. Intro: [snipped quote] Read the rest.
Michael J. Totten: It's Not All About Us — My new Tech Central Station column is up: [snipped quote] Read the rest...
Pejman Yousefzadeh: "PAPE-AL FALLIBILITY" — Michael Totten takes on Robert Pape quite effectively. See also this post for a further refutation.
Michael Totten: IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT US: My new Tech Central Station column is up: [snipped quote] Read the rest...

Tabloid's Deal With Woman Shielded Schwarzenegger
  LAT   —   Permalink 
SACRAMENTO — Days after Arnold Schwarzenegger jumped into the race for governor and girded for questions about his past, a tabloid publisher wooing him for a business deal promised to pay a woman $20,000 to sign a confidentiality agreement about an alleged affair with the candidate.
Paul McLeary: But today, courtesy of the Los Angeles Times, comes a new wrinkle in the story.
Chris Nolan: And today's story in the LATimes about the tabloid that paid Schwarzenegger to 'edit' its magazines also paid a woman for a story it never ran stinks well past high heaven.
DC Media Girl: More on payoffs — You know, I'm not easily shocked, but I admit that this revelation knocked me for a loop: SACRAMENTO...
Joe Gandelman: This latest LA Times story won't help: "SACRAMENTO — Days after Arnold Schwarzenegger jumped into the race for...
Ezra Klein: Last month's scandal where Arnold's second job as magazine publisher nicely intersected with his first job as...
Kevin Roderick: Buying silence for Arnold — Arnold in 1967The L.A. Times has a story saying that American Media, the tabloid publisher...
Also: Cookie Jill, Kevin Drum, Susie Madrak, Taegan Goddard, Jim Romenesko

No backing down for jailed reporter
  By / Newsday   —   Permalink 
It's been more than five weeks in a federal prison for New York Times reporter Judith Miller and there's little sign of any stand-down in the confrontation that caused her to be jailed for refusing to reveal her confidential sources in the Valerie Plame/CIA leak case.
DC Media Girl: Very small pity party — So Judy Miller's getting frustrated in the slammer: "It's tough, but she is fine.
Garrett M. Graff: Miller: Blogs Suck judith_millerblogs.jpgWor d from Judy Miller's jail cell today that she misses reading the internet.
Jim Romenesko: What bothers NYT's Miller is that she can't read the Internet — Newsday | Reason.com "People are telling her about some...
Jeralyn Merritt: Judith Miller, Star Chambers and Shield Laws — "Gonna stand my ground and I won't back down ....Tom Petty" Judith Miller is staying put.
Atrios: Waaaah — Miller: [snipped quote] What the hell does that mean?

COMMISSION COVERUP?
  By / New York Post   —   Permalink 
IT'S starting to look as if the 9/11 Commission turned a blind eye to key questions that could embarrass one of its own members — Clinton-era Justice Department honcho Jamie Gorelick.
This week brought the stunning revelation that elite military spies pinpointed Mohammed Atta and three...
Cernig: "Gorelickgate" All the brouhaha and kerfuffle about a possible "Gorelickgate" over the 9/11 Commission got me interested, so I went to see what DefenseTech might have to say.
Captain Ed: Deborah Orin reminds us of the problem in today's New York Post in her analysis of the deliberate omission of Able...
Jeff Goldstein: And speaking of Gorelick, here's the New York Post's Deborah Orin, "Commission Cover-up?"
MarkInMexico: Main Page Did Gorelick and Reno set us up for 9/11? It's beginning to look that way.
Michelle Malkin: Scott points to Deborah Orin's NYPost article, "Commission Cover-up?" putting the heat on Jamie Gorelick: "Commission...
Betsy Newmark: Deborah Orin also points an accusing finger at Jamie Gorelick. "It gets worse. Gorelick's defenders might argue that hindsight is 20-20.
Also: Scott @PowerLine, Kathryn Jean Lopez

Liberals lag conservatives in political blog presence
  By / Washington Times   —   Permalink 
Liberal activist Web loggers have made major advances on the Internet, but they remain far behind their conservative adversaries among the top 250 political blogs, according to a study by a Democratic think tank.
Justin Gardner: In any event, read the rest about the rise of the conservative blogosphere as reported by the Washington Times.
Paul @PowerLine: On a more optimistic note, the Washington Times cites a study by some liberal think tank showing that liberal bloggers remain well behind their conservative adversaries.
Chris Bowers: For example, I expect spin like this from the Washington Times: Click "Extended Entry" for the rest... Media :: Fri Aug...
Nick Gillespie: "I'll trade you one Hugh Hewitt and a Michelle Malkin for a Daily Kos..." [snipped quote] Whole thing, by Wash Times' Donald Lambro, here.

Bush Motorcade Passes War Protesters
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush and his motorcade passed the growing camp of war protesters outside his ranch Friday without incident.
As Bush passed on his way to and from a political fundraiser, law enforcement blocked two intersecting roads where the demonstrators have camped out all week.
Gateway Pundit: It makes you wonder how much things would be different if the Mainstream Media would carry these stories and emphasize...
Lambert @Corrente: Drive-by looting — Great headline—"Bush Motorcade Passes War Protesters." Doesn't it always?
Tbogg: Meanwhile back at the ranch: On Friday, Bush arrived before noon at a neighbor's ranch for a barbecue that was expected...

Lessons for an Exit Strategy
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
There have been conflicting reports about the timing of American troop withdrawals from Iraq. Gen. George Casey, commander of U.S. forces there, has announced that the United States intends to begin a "fairly substantial" withdrawal of U.S. forces after the projected December elections establish a constitutional government.
McQ: Kissinger on an Iraq Exit Strategy — Henry Kissinger has a detailed article in today's Washington Post in which he...
Justin Gardner: Kissinger On Iraq Troop Withdrawal — Somebody alert Christopher Hitchens…Henry Kissinger is talking about the Iraq war and how it relates to Vietnam.
Stephen Green: Required Reading — Kissinger.
Scott @PowerLine: On a related note, Henry Kissinger's Washington Post column provides a serious analysis of the difficult choices...
Jo Fish: Henry the K, ladies man of the Nixxon administration has an interesting op-ed in the Post today.

Tom DeLay, Opera Buff
  By / Slate   —   Permalink 
Jack Abramoff, Washington sleazeball extraordinaire, has finally been indicted. Surprisingly, the indictment is not related—directly, anyway—to the allegation that he defrauded the Indian tribes he represented as a lobbyist, which is the crime Abramoff is most widely suspected of committing.
Arthur Silber: Tim Noah writes about the Abramoff indictment: [snipped quote] Opera is one of the ruling passions of my life.
Michael Totten: HE KNOWS HIS SPINTOS AND HIS ARIOSOS: Timothy Noah in Slate reports that Tom DeLay is an opera buff.
Roger L. Simon: More "Discrete Charm of the (Liberal) Bourgeoisie" — I'm no fan of Tom Delay, but I almost became one reading Timothy...

The Resurgence of Movement Politics
  By / The Nation   —   Permalink 
Progressives have spent the last four years in a state of shock, unable to believe what's going on in this country, and holding out hope that things will get better by themselves.
Cernig: Nowhere has this been clearer than in the ideological drive of the Republican Party which "a movement that supports...
David Sirota: The Resurgence of Movement Politics — The Nation Magazine has published an essay of mine based on the speech I gave to the United Steelworkers earlier this week.
RJ Eskow: in his latest nation piece, david describes the long-term ideological strategy that led to conservative victory, using...

Police arrest armed man at U.N. garage
  CNN   —   Permalink 
What Is This?
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) — A California man — allegedly armed with two guns, a large knife and over 200 rounds of ammunition — was arrested Thursday as he tried to enter a United Nations parking garage, authorities said.
Lindsay Beyerstein: "They all look a certain way" II — Wabc_081205_un1_1 "Police arrest armed man at U.N. garage UNITED NATIONS (CNN) —...
Susie Madrak: Home Grown Terror So let's guess who inspired him. Mike Savage? Rush Limbaugh? John Bolton?
Joe Gandelman: Armed Man Arrested At UN — Is this a warning sign about the UN's vulnerability to terrorist attack — domestic and foreign?
Montag: Yesterday: CNN.com: Man arrested with suspected explosive at airport Today: CNN.com: Police arrest armed man at U.N. garage Both found via Lindsay Beyerstein of Majikthise.

Interview With Former President Bill Clinton; Fuel Truck Threat?; Canines Guarding America
  CNN   —   Permalink 
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where news and information from around the world arrive in one place simultaneously, on...
Joe Gandelman: Bill Clinton VS Wolf Blitzer — It was Wolf Blitzer Versus Bill Clinton on CNN's The Situation Room where the former...
Brian Stelter: I Try To Make News "And You Try To Avoid News," Blitzer Tells Clinton — From Bill Clinton's Situation Room interview...
MarkInMexico: Main Page Beware the stealth attack Bubba dummies up. Full transcript here. [snipped quote] A-Ha!
DC Media Girl: Quite the little cheap shot artist — Not sure if you all caught this on CNN's Situation Room yesterday, but the...
John Cole: Transcript here. And lightning bolts are going to come from the sky and strike me dead, but it sure would be nice if Jimmuh Cahtah was half as classy an ex-President as Clinton.

Atta Boy, Democrats
  Investor's Business Daily   —   Permalink 
National Security: The knowledge that Mohammed Atta was affiliated with al-Qaida was known at least a year before Sept. 11, but political correctness and walls between agencies built by Democrats kept it a secret.
Betsy Newmark: Investors Business Daily comes out with a pretty scorching editorial on the Commission covering up the information that...
Steve Bainbridge: IBD on Gorelick — Investors Business Daily has a fierce editorial on the recent reports about 9/11 and who knew what...
Ann Althouse: Here's the very harsh Investor's Business Daily editorial: [quote] [Curt Weldon, R-Pa. said] "They put stickies on the face of...[end quote]

Stop the Roberts Bombing
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Can we please come up with a better way of arguing about Supreme Court nominees?
Fellow liberals, face it: The advertisement created by NARAL, the abortion rights group that opposes John Roberts's nomination to the Supreme Court, is outrageous.
McQ: Why didn't NARAL? E J Dionne: "Can we please come up with a better way of arguing about Supreme Court nominees?
John Cole: Update *** EJ Dionne: Can we please come up with a better way of arguing about Supreme Court nominees?
Captain Ed: E.J. Dionne: Stop The Insanity — E.J. Dionne tries to restore sanity to the Left after watching NARAL squander their...
Orrin Judd: Stop the Roberts Bombing (E. J. Dionne Jr., August 12, 2005, Washington Post) "Fellow liberals, face it: The...

The new chauvinism
  By / Guardian   —   Permalink 
Out of the bombings a national consensus has emerged: what we need in Britain is a renewed sense of patriotism. The rightwing papers have been making their usual noises about old maids and warm beer, but in the past 10 days they've been joined by Jonathan...
Iain Murray: BRITISH ENVIROMENTALISTS WEIGH IN — George "Moonbat" Monbiot, perhaps the environmental activist most detached from...
Ace: At Least He's Honest: Lefty George Monbiot Admits Contradiction Between Left-Liberalism and Patriotism — He doesn't...

NYC Officials Release 9/11 Oral Histories
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
NEW YORK - The Fire Department on Friday released thousands of pages of oral histories recorded by firefighters about Sept. 11 and hours of radio transmissions, a vast mine of records that evoked anew the chaos and horror of the attack.
Andrew Cochran: Newly Released NYFD 9-11 Attack Records Remind Us: NEVER FORGET & NEVER AGAIN (updated with links to tapes) The NYC Fire...
TheAnchoress: 9/11 Transcripts, Read and Remember The Fire Department on Friday released thousands of pages of oral histories...

Mother who lost son in Iraq war camps out by Bush ranch
  By / Independent   —   Permalink 
President Bush said that he understood the grief of anti-war campaigners like the mother who lost a son in Iraq and is now leading a protest near his Texas ranch, but insisted it would be totally wrong to withdraw US troops now.
Dan @AndrewSullivan: As we all know now, the folks in this administration doesn't listen to members of their own party about the conduct of...
Michael @AmericaBlog: Cindy Sheehan's Story Going International — The Independent in the UK is the latest international media outlet to tell...
Jon Henke: The NYTimes and The Independent have addressed it... [snipped quote] My heart goes out to this mother.

Justice Department Losing Top Officials at Busy Time
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
The Justice Department's second-in-command, James B. Comey, is clearing out his desk today to take a job as Lockheed Martin Corp.'s general counsel. The department's sprawling criminal division has been without a permanent chief for three months.
Susie Madrak: They actually appointed a career prosecutor to oversee Patrick Fitzgerald and the Plame investigation, instead of Bush's...
Steve Soto: Bush Buddy Will Now Supervise Patrick Fitzgerald — Read the last paragraph on this piece in the Post about James...

The New Ernie Pyles: Sgtlizzie and 67cshdocs
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD — There were no reporters riding shotgun on the highway north of Baghdad when a roadside bomb sent Sgt. Elizabeth Le Bel's Humvee lurching into a concrete barrier. The Army released a three-sentence statement about the incident in which her driver, a fellow soldier, was killed.
Blackfive: Colin G. sends this one - Jonathon Finer of the Washington Post wrote an article on MilBlogs. Finally, someone featured Sgt. Lizzie.
Jim Romenesko: Today's Ernie Pyles are bloggers like "Sgtlizzie," "67cshdocs" — Washington Post At least 200 active-duty soldiers have blogs, reports Jonathan Finer.
James Joyner: The New Ernie Pyles: Sgtlizzie and 67cshdocs [snipped quote] The policy seems quite reasonable.

Hot Chick Flick
  NRO   —   Permalink 
Looking beyond the "Same Ho. New Low." package.
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo is completely ridiculous.
But Deuce Bigalow is irresistible.
Warren Bell: ONE SENSES THE STEADYING HAND OF KARL ROVE — Who else could get the prominently Catholic, occasionally Mother...
Kathryn Jean Lopez: BUSH'S HOLOCAUST—OH YES, I FORGOT AGAIN — I was busy reading my "you are a disgrace" e-mails about Duece when I came...

Shiites Call for Own State in South
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
NAJAF, Iraq, Aug. 11 — Waving posters of Iran's late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, thousands of chanting Shiite Muslims signaled approval for a call Thursday by their leaders for a separate Shiite federal state in central and southern Iraq.
Frederick Maryland: To fully appreciate the magnitude of this development, permit The Post to paint a picture of this secessionary demand
James Joyner: Shiites Call for Own State in South — Another complication has arisen in the efforts of the Iraqis to write a permanent...
Captain Ed: Shi'ites invoking the Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini demanded a secession of southern Iraq in order to form an...

Campbell not ruling out campaign for governor
  By / Rocky Mountain News   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - Former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell said Thursday that he still is considering a possible run for Colorado governor in 2006, although it would take a lot to coax him out of a comfortable - and lucrative - retirement.
Taegan Goddard: Nighthorse Campbell May Run for Governor — Former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO) said that he is considering a...
Alexander K. McClure: 2006 Colorado Governor Race — Former Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell is contemplating running for Governor in Colorado next year.