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Rappers and Bloggers By / Slate — Permalink P. Diddy gargles Cristal as his yacht sails from San Tropez to Ibiza. Atrios stares at his computer screen and ponders the effect of "increased central bank diversification out of dollar holdings." Nelly takes in the NBA All-Star Game from the first row while gabbing on a cell phone made out of a giant shoe. | |
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Avedon Carol: Rappers and Bloggers: Separated at birth! is a silly article but at least it had lots of links to some of our friends (and some people who should never be linked, of course). Brian Linse: Rappers - They're Just Like US ! Josh Levin explains that rappers and bloggers were Separated at Birth. Glenn Reynolds: I'VE MEANT FOR SOME TIME to do a post on why blogging is like techno, with a mixture of rearranged samples and original... |
Jan Haugland: Just to round it off, the prize for the most silly article about blogging ever goes to Slate's Josh Levin for Rappers and Bloggers. Daniel Drezner: Call me "Dr. Dre" from now on — Josh Levin compares rappers to bloggers in Slate: [snipped quote] Sampling, cutting, pasting, and then writing a few short words of commentary? Atrios: Just Curious — Does Slate actually pay people to write this stuff? |
The Latest Initiative in Congress: Blogging By / NYT — Permalink AS he stood inside the National Cathedral at President Reagan's funeral last June, Representative Mike Pence, Republican of Indiana, typed a stirring message into his BlackBerry. "My wife and I stand amidst the most powerful people in the world," it read. | |
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Ace: Congressmen: [snipped quote] Here's a little quiz: When the New York Times wants to list three popular blogs, just to let you know what a "blog" is, who do you think they mention? Joe Gandelman: Now you KNOW blogging is doomed and passe: members of Congress are blogging: [snipped quote] This is like Eminem suddenly becoming popular in convalescent homes. K. J. Lopez: CONGRESS GETS THE BLOGGING BUG — However slowly—helped immensely by John Thune, who gets the blogosphere thang. |
Taegan Goddard: Blogging From Capitol Hill — Blogging "is taking root on Capitol Hill," the New York Times reports. Ed Cone: Less than meets the eye: NYT reports that at least four members of Congress maintain weblogs, including three Republican... |
From Psst to Oops: Secret Taper of Bush Says History Can Wait By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 - All week, Doug Wead has said the reason he secretly recorded some of his phone calls with President Bush was for history's sake. But Wednesday, after a blast of criticism, Mr. Wead abruptly decided he had spoken too soon. | |
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CJR: Shed no tears for Doug Wead, who secretly taped a younger George W. Bush and recently let the New York Times listen in. Cori Dauber: After all, they had to find room on the front page for this. And this. For the national edition?) Steven Taylor: Tales of the Weadster — Via the NYT: From Psst to Oops: Secret Taper of Bush Says History Can Wait "But Wednesday,... |
Ann Althouse: I'm officially abandoning my theory that Bush knew Douglas Wead was taping him — because things have gone so badly for... Captain Ed: Wead now says he'll give the tapes to the White House and has begun cancelling media appearances, according to the New... Orrin Judd: From Psst to Oops: Secret Taper of Bush Says History Can Wait (DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK, 2/24/05, NY Times) |
Ex-Steeler Swann Raising Money for Bid AP — Permalink HARRISBURG, Pa. - Former Pittsburgh Steelers star Lynn Swann has formed a campaign committee to raise money for a potential run for governor in 2006. Swann named his committee Team 88, the number he wore as a wide receiver for the Steelers from 1974 to 1982, when the team won four Super Bowls. | |
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Captain Ed: Swann announced the formation of a campaign committee for the Pennsylvania governorship in 2006, hoping to unseat... |
Betsy Newmark: WHat will they think about having to oppose Lynn Swann in Pennsylvania? |
Egypt's Brutal Answer WaPo — Permalink ON MONDAY President Bush again called on Egypt to "lead the way" toward democratic change in the Middle East. Apparently Hosni Mubarak, the country's leader for the past 24 years, wasn't listening. | |
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Judith Weiss: UPDATE: This story made me cry. (via Bill INDC) UPDATE: Egypt isn't getting with the program. Eric Soskin: The Washington Post observes that Egypt's answer to the President's calls for democratic change has been defiance: "ON... |
Charles Paul Freund: WaPo's lead editorial today is an unusually sharp attack on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek for his mistreatment of imprisoned political reformer Ayman Nour. Matthew Yglesias: Today's Washington Post offers a strong editorial on freedom's backward march in Egypt: [snipped quote] Quite so. |
Wal-Mart CEO Takes His Case to California LAT — Permalink With its California expansion plans stalled, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. dispatched its top executive to Los Angeles on Wednesday to plead the case for the world's largest company. Among his messages: We're not backing down. | |
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Steve Bainbridge: The Conservative Case Against Wal-Mart — Hugh Hewitt praises a tough-minded speech by Wal-Mart's CEO and inveighs... Frederick Maryland: Wal-Mart's Feeble Effort to Airbrush Its Image — In a speech yesterday in Los Angeles, Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott argued that the mega-retailer gets a bad rap. |
Hugh Hewitt: Well done Randy. Who's next in Nashville?) Resistance to WalMart opening new stores always amazes me. Really. |
White House Talk By / WaPo — Permalink What's going on inside the White House? Ask Dan Froomkin, who writes the White House Briefing column for washingtonpost.com. He'll answer your questions, take your comments and links, and point you to coverage around the Web. Dan is also deputy editor of Niemanwatchdog.org. | |
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Kevin Drum: PSSST...Prairie Angel notes Dan Froomkin's answer to an online question this afternoon about the media's almost... |
Atrios: Froomkin says: Having waited a long time for the press corps to overtly revolt against this vile tradition, allow me to... |
How sweet it is Girl eats real food for first time in 7 1/2 years after doctors at Stanford solve mystery San Francisco Chronicle — Permalink From the time Tilly Merrell was a year old, doctors told her family she would never have a normal life — or even a normal meal. British doctors found that the food she swallowed went into her lungs instead of her stomach, causing devastating lung infections. | |
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Orrin Judd: SO WHY DO THEY CALL IT NATIONAL HEALTH? (via brian boys): How sweet it is: Girl eats real food for first time in 7 1/2... |
Betsy Newmark: What a happy ending this story has. It shows the value of perseverance and the Internet as well as community help. |
Uli Derickson, 60, Who Helped Airline Hostages, Dies By / NYT — Permalink Uli Derickson, the Trans World Airlines flight attendant honored for saving passengers' lives in 1985 by both confronting and mollifying terrorist hijackers, died on Friday at her home in Tucson. She was 60. | |
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Randy Paul: I would be remiss if I didn't mention the much too early passing of Uli Derickson, the brave and crafty flight attendant... |
Ann Althouse: Goodbye to Uli Derickson, whose story appears on the obituary page today: [snipped quote] What a story! |
Chris Rock By / Slate — Permalink On Sunday night, Chris Rock is slotted to host the Academy Awards, to the displeasure of two people: Matt Drudge and Chris Rock. Drudge thinks Rock is dangerous. Rock wants people to think that he is. In two postings, Drudge warned that Rock's selection promised to throw the broadcast "into complete chaos." | |
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Baldilocks: This Slate commentary shows that liberals aren't the only ones prone to this very human fault. "Far from an encomium [ed. |
K.J. Lopez: CHRIS ROCK MUST ROCK — Just read the title of this piece. |
Two-Hour Primetime Special Airs Thursday, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. ABCNEWS — Permalink Feb. 4, 2005 — Almost 50 percent of Americans, according to recent polls, and millions of people elsewhere in the world believe that UFOs are real. For many it is a deeply held belief. For decades there have been sightings of UFOs by millions and millions of people. | |
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Damian Penny: Maybe he'll reveal Dan Rather's home planet — Peter Jennings is hosting a special on UFOs tonight. |
Brian Stelter: Tonight: Peter Jennings On UFOs — "Peter Jennings Reporting: UFOs — Seeing Is Believing" airs tonight from 8 to 10pm on ABC (in HDTV!) |
Bush, Putin Address the Media LAT — Permalink PRESIDENT BUSH: I'm — I just had a very important and constructive dialogue with my friend. It was great to see — I know Laura was pleased to see Lyudmila Putin as well. We have had over the past four years very constructive relations, and that's the way I'm going to keep it for the next four years as well. | |
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Baldilocks: Lessons On Democracy — Here's an interesting exchange that occurred during the press conference featuring President... |
Nico @ThinkProgress: President George W. Bush, 2/24/05 "Secrecy may well be seen as the enemy of freedom when it conceals facts important to public understanding. |
GOP Master Plan Revealed! By / Slate — Permalink The Anarchist Cookbook, GOP edition: Republican spin doctor Frank Luntz examines the lessons learned from last year's GOP victory in a playbook that the "non-partisan research and educational institute" Center for American Progress is dissecting in a series of blog posts. | |
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CJR: Finally, reacting with lightning-like speed to a CJR Daily staple, Slate at long last unveils a new feature by Bidisha Banerjee called ... "Today's Blogs"! Cori Dauber: Now Slate has added another feature, doing the same for the blogosphere. (Which I guess has now officially arrived.) |
Daniel Drezner: Oh, and Slate has added a new feature, Today's Blogs — which appears to be a useful compliment to their equally useful Today's Papers feature. Ed Cone: Slate is publishing a best-of-the-blogs feature, compiled by Bidisha Banerjee. |
CU prof's Hawaii speech misquoted By / Denver Post — Permalink Professors and reporters attending Ward Churchill's speech in Hawaii on Tuesday disputed a Honolulu Star-Bulletin report that Churchill admitted he is not Indian. | |
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Steven Taylor: The Denver Post has more: CU prof's Hawaii speech misquoted "Neither the Honolulu Advertiser nor The Associated Press published a remark like that. Jeralyn Merritt: Confronted with the audio and video of his speech, the paper has retracted its claim. |
Greg Ransom: UPDATE II: Churchill's remarks are now in dispute. Glenn Reynolds: This report from the Denver Post says so, and that he didn't actually admit that he's not Indian. |
The Wal-Mart Manifesto By / Slate — Permalink H. Lee Scott Jr., the chief executive officer of Wal-Mart, argued in a speech yesterday in Los Angeles (click here to listen to it) that Wal-Mart is a force for good in the economy. Scott is hardly the first corporate chairman to echo "Engine" Charlie Wilson's claim that what's good for General Motors is good for America. | |
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Steve Bainbridge: (Timothy Noah points out that Wal-Mart's CEO distorted Wal-Mart's wage picture in his speech by using average rather than median salaries.) |
Frederick Maryland: Thanks to Slate's Timothy Noah, we can add something else to Wal-Mart's rap: distortion of reality. |
A Tale of Two Daleys By / Opinion Journal — Permalink CHICAGO—Power, like yogurt and celebrity, is generally thought to have an expiration date. Not always, not everywhere—and not, apparently, here in Chicago, where one family, the Daleys, has controlled the political action from City Hall for going on four decades. | |
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Pejman Yousefzadeh: Joseph Epstein tells us why Mayor Daley the Younger will continue to be a power in the city of Chicago for years to... |
Orrin Judd: HIS CHICAGO IS TOO PROGRESSIVE FOR THE REACTIONARY PARTY: A Tale of Two Daleys: Chicago's mayor doesn't have a theory of governance. |
Reports: Pope Taken to Operating Room Reuters — Permalink ROME (Reuters) - Pope John Paul has been taken to an operating room in Rome's Gemelli hospital and might have surgery to help him breathe more easily, Italian media said on Thursday. | |
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James Joyner: Pope Has Tracheotomy — ABC News: Reports: Pope Taken to Operating Room (Reuters) [snipped quote] CNN is covering the story in full-time mode. |
Jeff Quinton: UPDATE Reuters has more: [snipped quote] Related: Pope hospitalized again |
'No charge' over Falluja killing BBC — Permalink A US marine filmed apparently shooting dead an injured Iraqi in a Falluja mosque last year may not be formally charged, according to media reports. Military investigators have concluded there is not enough evidence to prosecute over the shooting, US television network CBS news says. | |
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Charles Johnson: Marine May Not Be Charged — The Marine who shot an injured Iraqi holy warrior in Fallujah, and was filmed by Kevin... |
Betsy Newmark: That is good news that the army is not going to issue charges against the Marine in Fallujah who shot a wounded Iraqi because he thought the Iraqi might have a gun. |
Actuarially Unsound By / TCS — Permalink "Enactment of this plan would eliminate the Social Security long-range actuarial deficit and meet the criteria for sustainable solvency. The program would be expected to remain solvent throughout the 75-year projection period and for the foreseeable future beyond. | |
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Arnold Kling: Actuarial Scoring Errors — In this essay, I take off on "actuarial scoring" of Social Security plans. [snipped quote] For Discussion. |
Ramesh Ponnuru: ARNOLD KLING has another interesting, informative column on Social Security. |
Uncle Sam Wants Tu By / LAT — Permalink It is hard to pick up a newspaper these days without reading about Army and Marine Corps recruiting and retention woes. Nonstop deployments and the danger faced by troops in Iraq are making it hard for both services to fill their ranks. | |
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Matthew Yglesias: In today's LA Times, Max Boot offers what would be a nice companion piece were he not serious, arguing that the United... |
Eugene Oregon: Cannon Fodder — Matthew Yglesias highlights this Max Boot piece calling for the creation of a "Freedom Legion" [snipped quote] Nice. |
Feminists Get Hysterical City Journal — Permalink Gee thanks, Susan. Political pundit Susan Estrich has launched a venomous campaign (links here and here and here) against the Los Angeles Times's op-ed editor, Michael Kinsley, for alleged discrimination against female writers. | |
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Lorie Byrd: Read the whole thing at City Journal. Believe me, you will be glad you took the time. |
Jayson @PoliPundit: Heather MacDonald basically says that, yes, indeed, many of them have gone beyond loco crazy, Man. |
Thompson 'made this choice' Rocky Mountain News — Permalink ASPEN — Hunter S. Thompson died Sunday as he planned: surrounded by his family, at a high point in his life, and with a single, courageous and fatal gunshot wound to the head, his son says. His son and daughter-in-law could not be sadder. And they could not be prouder. | |
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Ed Cone: Well said. (posts Monday) UPDATE: Rocky Moutain News: "Hunter S. Thompson died Sunday as he planned: surrounded by his... |
Jeralyn Merritt: HST: Son is Sad But Proud, He Went Out Like a Warrior — Hunter Thompson's son and daughter-in-law are interviewed in today's Rocky Mountain News. |
Inside Politics By / Washington Times — Permalink Is the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) using former White House reporter Jeff Gannon as a fund-raising inspiration? Depends on how one interprets a dramatic plea from Rep. Louise M. Slaughter yesterday, asking loyal Dems to sign a petition against him. | |
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Steve M.: Jennifer Harper writes in the Moonie Washington Times: Try a bake sale Is the Democratic Congressional Campaign... |
K. J. Lopez: The Washington Times suggests so. We'll see. Legislation there, of course, managed to pass without most of the state's... |
Flare-Ups in Battle Over Bush's Social Security Plan NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 - The public relations war over President Bush's Social Security plan escalated on Wednesday, as a liberal advocacy group attacked the Republican chairman of the House Social Security subcommittee, and conservative groups fought among themselves over strategy. | |
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Sam Rosenfeld: Thus far, McCrery's office has responded by lobbing the rather odd accusation of "extreme liberal bias" — as if the... |
Josh Marshall: Picked up in the Times, the Hill and the Times-Picayune. See CAF's ad about where McCrery gets his money and who he works for, here. |
Why Can't A Man Be More Like a Woman? By / WaPo — Permalink Perhaps in the wake of the Larry Summers debacle at Harvard it's time for a study of the missing social gene in men. It's amazing how many executive disasters are caused by the way otherwise smart males crash around in the thicket of interpersonal relations. | |
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Max B. Sawicky: Economizing on effort in this vein, I offer what follows: what a conservative, very smart female economist in Larry's... |
K. J. Lopez: TINA BROWN AGREES WITH LARRY SUMMERS — Well in a sorta-kinda-not-really way. |
To the Republicans on City Council: Your party is keeping an eye on you By / Houston Chronicle — Permalink The Harris County Republican Party has a warning for Republicans on Houston's City Council: Be careful about supporting Mayor Bill White. In recent weeks, as the popular Democratic mayor was taking flak over of his Safe Clear freeway towing ordinance, the local GOP saw two opportunities to humiliate him on the council. | |
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Charles Kuffner: Woodfill's whining — I keep trying to blog about this story, in which Harris County GOP Chair Jared Woodfill cries... |
Jim Dallas: Second, that HCRP chair Jared Woodfill may need to change his undergarments: [snipped quote] There hasn't been any... |
FOX News doctors AP reports to mimic White House terminology Media Matters for America — Permalink Since April 2002, FOX News has consistently doctored Associated Press articles featured on the FOX News website concerning terrorist attacks in the Middle East to conform to Bush administration terminology. | |
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Eugene Oregon: Blogging - Fox News Style — By now you have probably seen this Media Matters piece on how Fox News has been changing... |
Jesse Taylor: Internet Blogger On Conservative Fox News — When Fox News consistently uses the term "homicide bombers", I'm less... |
I'll Link to That By / Opinion Journal — Permalink This week, an homage de blog. Or would that be homage du blog? James Taranto will know. It's good to have an editor, especially one I would characterize as a nonintrusive stickler. He always knows my topic, doesn't know my view, corrects my spelling and grammar. | |
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S.Z.: This week Peggy tries to pretend that she too is a noble yeoman blogger, and therefore one of the chosen few fated to... JD @SouthernAppeal: Leave it to Peggy: I've been meaning to post something on Hunter S. Thompson's passing, and the collective fever of a... |
Betsy Newmark: Peggy Noonan highlights a small note of how Hillary is catering to religious voters through her language. |
Health care tab ready to explode By / USA Today — Permalink The nation's tab for health care — already the highest per person in the industrialized world — could hit $3.6 trillion by 2014, or nearly 19% of the entire U.S. economy, up from 15.4% now, a sobering government projection says. | |
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Max B. Sawicky: The USA Today spin is slightly more dramatic, that health care spending is going to "explode" from 15.4 to 19 percent of GDP. Randall Parker: Increased medical spending for old folks is coming at the expense of government funding of health care for old folks as Medicaid budgets for the poor are cut. |
Howard Kurtz: As if to underscore Samuelson's point—Social Security is only part of the problem—check out this USA Today piece: ... |
Pentagon Seeking Leeway Overseas WaPo — Permalink The Pentagon is promoting a global counterterrorism plan that would allow Special Operations forces to enter a foreign country to conduct military operations without explicit concurrence from the U.S. ambassador there, administration officials familiar with the plan said. | |
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Hugh Hewitt: The Pentagon is seeking authority to deploy Special Operations forces into foreign countries without the approval or... TChris: Believing it should be a government unto itself, unhindered by checks and balances, Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon "is... |
Cori Dauber: Ssshh! Listen Very Carefully That screaming you hear off in the distance is coming from Foggy Bottom. Steve Soto: According to Thursday's Post, Rummy has drafted a plan whereby his Special Forces could go into another country and... |
Specter Unbound By / WaPo — Permalink President Bush would be wise to "pick up the phone" and consult with Democrats before choosing a new Supreme Court justice. "The advice clause in the Constitution has been largely ignored." If there is a vacancy on the high court, "the far right is going to come hard at a nominee if it is not a nominee of their choosing. | |
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Captain Ed: In a visit with the Post's editorial board yesterday, Specter appears to have backtracked significantly on his agreement... |
K. J. Lopez: THE PRESIDENT MUST LOVE getting advice from the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee via the Washington Post. |
A Million-Dollar Senator: Schumer Gets Into Big Ring By / New York Observer — Permalink New York's senior Senator, Charles Schumer, recently had a nightmare—well, not exactly a nightmare, since the 54-year-old Senator insists he doesn't have nightmares, but call it an anxiety dream. It was about a young boxer who had suffered a bruising beating and was hooked up to a respirator, fighting for her life. | |
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Matthew Yglesias: I was so busy making what I thought was a clever, complicated point about Chuck Schumer's recruitment of pro-life Senate... |
Hugh Hewitt: Senator Schumer is worried about the Dems losing three more seats in 2006, but he will no doubt be one of the Senators leading the charge against the eventual Bush nominee. |
Bush May Weigh the Use of Incentives to Dissuade Iran By / NYT — Permalink WIESBADEN, Germany, Feb. 23 - President Bush said Wednesday that he and German, British and French leaders had discussed negotiating tactics to try to get Iran to give up its suspected nuclear weapons program, and his national security adviser later left open... | |
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Matthew Yglesias: It's written in the soft-focus tone we've come to expect from Elisabeth Bumiller, but her New York Times article on the... |
Susan Madrak: HEWING TO THE SAME HIGH STANDARDS — Looks like we'll go to war in Iran based on the same kind of hard evidence we had... |
The Unheralded Revolution By / WaPo — Permalink Look beyond the jockeying for jobs in Iraq's embryonic transitional government. Focus instead on the final results in that Arab country's matrix-breaking election. They reveal a little-publicized result that President Bush, feminist organizations and democracy advocates should be shouting from the rooftops. | |
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Gene @HarrysPlace: Iraq election: a victory for women — Jim Hoagland of The Washington Post reports some facts which may ease fears that... |
Cori Dauber: For the second day in a row a Post columnist suggests something has come out of Iraq that the White House should be "shouting from the rooftops." |
Deconstructing Winston By / American Spectator — Permalink Last week in London, Queen Elizabeth opened the new Churchill Museum. Twelve million dollars and ten years in the making, the spectacularly innovative showplace located in the basement of the Treasury Building in Whitehall instantly assumes a yin/yang relationship with its pointedly low-tech companion exhibit of the actual World War II Cabinet War Room. | |
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The Big Trunk: A postmodern Churchill — Judd Magilnick reviews London's new Churchill Museum for the Spectator Online: "Deconstructing Winston." |
Betsy Newmark: Judd Magilnick is not impressed with the new Churchill museum. I'd read other more positive reviews, but his criticisms do seem valid. |
Out of the Black Hole By / Cato Institute — Permalink Mr. Kacer is the ambassador of the Slovak Republic in the United States and Mr. Tupy is the assistant director of the Project on Global Economic Liberty at the Cato Institute. Next week, President George W. Bush will visit Slovakia to meet Slovak officials and hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. | |
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John Hawkins: The Flat Tax: Working In The Real World By Prestopundit — SLOVAKIA goes to a flat tax and private retirement accounts. Jesse Taylor: Cato pieces like this one make me wish that we could invent time travel so that we could get the Washington Post article... |
Pejman Yousefzadeh: MORE ON ALTERNATIVE TAXATION SCHEMES — I posted on this yesterday, but the issue is worth revisiting in light of this... Greg Ransom: SLOVAKIA goes to a flat tax and private retirement accounts. |
Honey, I Shrunk the Dollar By / NYT — Permalink I have just one question about President Bush's trip to Europe: Did he and Laura go shopping? If they did, I would love to have been a fly on the wall when Laura must have said to George: "George, do you remember how much these Belgian chocolates cost when we were here four years ago? | |
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Steve Antler: Yes, it has even appeared in book form... Doesn't Tom Friedman know this same editorial has been written hundreds of times since 1985? Greg Ransom: TOM FRIEDMAN talks turkey about the falling dollar: [snipped quote] Friedman, of course, is typically dishonest in his... |
Stephen Green: Required Reading — Tom Friedman. I started - twice - to write about the dangers of a disorderly decline in the dollar, and what events might trigger it. |
Report Faults Bush Initiative on Education By / NYT — Permalink Concluding a yearlong study on the effectiveness of President Bush's sweeping education law, No Child Left Behind, a bipartisan panel of lawmakers drawn from many states yesterday pronounced it a flawed, convoluted and unconstitutional education reform initiative that had usurped state and local control of public schools. | |
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Jeralyn Merritt: Report: 'No Child Left Behind' Gets an 'F' — A report scheduled for release Friday blasts President Bush's "No Child Left Behind Act" and argues it is unconstitutional. Steve Soto: Bush's No Child Left Behind Has Few Supporters, May Even Be Unconstitutional — Under the category "gee, why didn't this... |
Michelle Malkin |: The New York Times previews the study: "The report, based on hearings in six cities, praised the law's goal of ending... |
SAUDI 'SOLDIER' By / New York Post — Permalink IN Alexandria, Va., on Tuesday, a 23-year-old Northern Virginia man of Saudi Arabian background named Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was charged with conspiring to assassinate President Bush. Abu Ali and his accomplices are accused of plotting to kill the president by gunfire or a car bomb. | |
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The Big Trunk: UPDATE 2: Stephen Schwartz has more in his New York Post article: "Saudi 'soldier.'" |
Glenn Reynolds: UPDATE: In fact, reaching to the United States, as this report makes clear: [snipped quote] Read the whole thing. |
In the Balance By / NYT — Permalink There were two days left before election day, and Gen. Rostam Hamid Rahim, guerrilla war hero and a member of Iraqi Kurdistan's regional Parliament since 1992, was determined that every Kurd vote. | |
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Jeremy Brown: The Kurds' War for Oil? Did you read that long article in the New York Times Magazine last Sunday? The one about the Kurds? |
Juan Cole: The Middle East Information Center discussion board highlights the excellent article by Nir Rosen on Kirkuk that appeared in the NYT magazine Sunday. |
President Bush Speaks with Young Professionals in Germany White House — Permalink PRESIDENT BUSH: Gerhard, thank you very much for your hospitality. I want to thank you all for coming. This is a good opportunity for me to really listen to what you have to ask and tell me about a lot of things. I'm interested in economy, the entrepreneurial spirit. | |
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Norbizness: Instead I got this dusty fart of a town hall meeting (entitled "President Bush Speaks with Young Professionals in... |
Barbara O'Brien: "Somewhat ironically, according to the transcript of the public part, the first question was about free speech — in Russia." |
Who won illegal votes of felons? By / Seattle Post-Intelligencer — Permalink Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire won more votes from urbanites in the 2004 election while Dino Rossi, her Republican opponent, got more rural votes. Gregoire had probably more women's votes and Rossi more from men. | |
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PoliPundit: Apparently, at least 1,108 felons voted in the recent Washington state gubernatorial election, which Democrat Christine... Taegan Goddard: Republicans Claim More Than 1000 Felons Voted — In Washington, Republicans [snipped quote] the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. |
James Joyner: Washington's Felons Chose Governor — Who won illegal votes of felons? (SPI) [snipped quote] One would think. |
Self-Made Scoop By / Village Voice — Permalink Read Jarrett Murphy's blog, Press Clips Extra. In late August 2002 Salon reported a major scoop: An e-mail linked then Army secretary Thomas White, a former executive at Enron, to an effort to cover the massive losses at the energy giant. | |
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Tom Biro: What's up with The Week — Towards the bottom of this column by the Village Voice's Jarrett Murphy is some skinny on The... |
Kevin Roderick: From the Voice: [snipped quote] The March 1 release date for his book, Off the Record, may be delayed by legal issues,... |
Beirut's Berlin Wall By / WaPo — Permalink BEIRUT — "Enough!" That's one of the simple slogans you see scrawled on the walls around Rafiq Hariri's grave site here. And it sums up the movement for political change that has suddenly coalesced in Lebanon and is slowly gathering force elsewhere in the Arab world. | |
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McQ: The ripple effect — David Ignatius gives us the gist of a conversation he had at a dinner in Lebanon with Walid... Steve Antler: Has any non-Anglo European politician said anything during the past decade — on any subject — that captures the... John Hawkins: Now here's a quote from the The WAPO today, "The leader of this Lebanese intifada [for independence from Syria] is Walid... |
NewSisyphus: WaPo's David Ignatius wrote this morning on "Beirut's Berlin Wall" and the burgeoning movement by the Lebanese to throw... Dean Esmay: You can read the whole thing by clicking here. Gene @HarrysPlace: Now comes news of a remarkable conversation David Ignatius of The Washington Post had with Walid Jumblatt, a leader of Lebanon's Druze community. |
| Also: Jim Henley, Arthur Chrenkoff, Cori Dauber, Damian Penny, Jan Haugland, Scott Elliott, Charles Paul Freund, Jeff Goldstein, Bill @INDCJournal, Will Collier, Captain Ed, Norm Geras, Deacon, Glenn Reynolds, Judith Weiss, Orrin Judd, Mitch Berg | |
With a Hush and a Whisper, Bush Drops Town Hall Meeting with Germans DER SPIEGEL — Permalink During his trip to Germany on Wednesday, the main highlight of George W. Bush's trip was meant to be a "town hall"-style meeting with average Germans. But with the German government unwilling to permit a scripted event with questions approved in advance, the White House has quietly put the event on ice. | |
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Ezra Klein: That, for those wondering, is why I'm canceling the centerpiece of my trip in Germany, because they won't allow my staff to screen the questions before I take them. Barbara O'Brien: Do you think they hate us because of our freedoms? Do they misunderstand us? Or are they just jealous? | bar.jpg Steve Soto: Germans Refuse White House Request For Bush To Appear At Stage-Managed Town Hall Event — Apparently the White House... |
Norbizness: (Click for larger pic) A very special international version of Ax Da President was truncated by the inability of the... Joe Gandelman: Maybe It Was Because Jeff Gannon Couldn't Be There.. P.R. Blunders 101: Slate a highly touted Town Hall meeting while... Chris Bowers: Bush Administration Can't Export Propaganda Machine to Europe — Bumped—I'll be on MSNBC at 5pm eastern to talk about... |
| Also: Taegan Goddard, Ed Tracey | |
Could George W. Bush Be Right? By / DER SPIEGEL — Permalink Germany loves to criticize US President George W. Bush's Middle East policies — just like Germany loved to criticize former President Ronald Reagan. But Reagan, when he demanded that Gorbachev remove the Berlin Wall, turned out to be right. Could history repeat itself? | |
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Jan Haugland: In Europe, the unthinkable question — Germany's Der Spiegel: Could George W. Bush be right? Quick quiz. Lorie Byrd: Bush and Reagan In Europe — I love the comparison of Bush to Reagan in this German article. Pejman Yousefzadeh: THROUGH GRITTED TEETH — I'm sure that this was an exceedingly difficult piece for the writers of Der Spiegel to put out. |
Dale Franks: A Little Daylight Filters Through — Christian Malzahn, writing in the German magazine Der Spiegel, makes an important point. Orrin Judd: WHOSE DAY IS IT FOR THE EPIPHANY? : Could George W. Bush Be Right? Norm Geras: Quote unquote — [snipped quote] I noticed that. See also this. (Via Glenn and Gene; and thanks Sophie.) |
| Also: Glenn Reynolds, Arthur Chrenkoff | |
Journalistic Malpractice By / WaPo — Permalink It's always necessary to do the math. By this I mean that journalists need to measure politicians' promises against underlying realities, as represented by numbers. But many reporters detest math. | |
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Avedon Carol: One article that Steve mentions in that post is Journalistic Malpractice, in which Robert J. Samuelson says journalists have done a bad job of clarifying the numbers. Steve Soto: And there is a grass roots pushback against what the GOP is trying to do with this effort, so why not merge the moral... Max B. Sawicky: THE OTHER SAMUELSON The one who isn't an intellectual giant of economics, who writes a column for the Post, scolds the mainstream media for innumeracy. |
Dale Franks: Do the Math — Robert Samuelson writes that when it comes to fiscal policy impacts of Social Security Reform, you can't... DeLong: (Robert Samuelson Edition) Outsourced to Jesse Taylor: "Pandagon: The Blind Criticizing The Blind's Fashion Sense:... Greg Ransom: But what really mars their reporting is an inwillingness to do grade school mathematics, so suggests Robert Samuelson: ... |
| Also: Stephen Green, Jesse Taylor | |
The Secret Genocide Archive By / NYT — Permalink Photos don't normally appear on this page. But it's time for all of us to look squarely at the victims of our indifference. These are just four photos in a secret archive of thousands of photos and reports that document the genocide under way in Darfur. | |
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Thomas Lang: Yesterday, the New York Times's crusader-for-all-humanita rian-causes, Nicholas Kristof, took on this issue in his op-ed... Charles Bird: This despite smoking gun evidence from Nicholas Kristof: "This archive, including scores of reports by the monitors on... Captain Ed: Unfortunately, Kristof calls for the same kind of pointless actions that allowed Saddam Hussein to continue his... |
Norm Geras: Just read if you can bear to (and skip past this if you can't): "There are thousands more of these photos. Richard Reeb: Why Not Deplore Abortion too? Nicholas Kristof begins his column on the Darfur genocide this way. Photos don't normally appear on this page. Jan Haugland: Evidence of genocide in Darfur — NYT Picture from genocide in Sudan Kudos to Nicholas D. Kristof for publishing... |
| Also: Roger L. Simon, Joe Gandelman, David Allan Pell, Eugene Oregon, QD @SouthernAppeal, Jason Van Steenwyk, Glenn Reynolds | |
Blogging ... Blah, Blah, Blah By / Fox News — Permalink U.S. News & World Report reported last week that several senior Republican senators — upon hearing that "blogs" had uncovered the Dan Rather scandal, helped to defeat Tom Daschle and pushed for the resignation of CNN executive Eason Jordan — demanded that "blogs" be added to their official Web sites. | |
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Scott Sala: Swallowing Blogs Without Chewing — FOX News has a great story on the phenomenon of blogs being so big now that... James Joyner: Blogging … Blah, Blah, Blah — Radley Balko has an amusing piece at Fox News entitled, "Blogging ... Blah, Blah, Blah." Radley Balko: The Self-Loathing Blogger — My new Fox column pees in the blogospherian community pool. |
Joe Gandelman: On the other hand, Radley Balko argues that blogging is really not that dramatic a media development as a unique news... Jim Henley: Radley's got a good column about how blogs aren't really all that and a bag of chips, in which he reiterates his point about how independent the political blogosphere isn't. |
The Overstretch Myth Foreign Affairs — Permalink Summary: The United States' current account deficit and foreign debt are not dire threats to its global position, as would-be Cassandras warn. U.S. power is firmly grounded on economic superiority and financial stability that will not end soon. | |
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Daniel Drezner: Ah, this leads to door #2: David H. Levey and Stuart S. Brown's "The Overstretch Myth" in the March/April 2005 issue of Foreign Affairs. Jonah Goldberg: THE OVERSTRETCH MYTH — Very useful, if number-heavy, Foreign Affairs article on why America isn't about to fold like a... |
Pejman Yousefzadeh: David Levey and Stuart Brown take a look at the latest set of predictions and find them wanting. Quite properly so. Orrin Judd: TIME TO DIG UP THE KRUGERANDS...AGAIN: The Overstretch Myth (David H. Levey and Stuart S. Brown, March/April 2005,... |
The new youth craze: Self-mutilation By / Townhall.com — Permalink Have you heard of "cutting"? If you're a parent, you'd better read up. "Cutting" refers to self-mutilation — using knives, razor blades or even safety pins to deliberately harm one's own body — and it's spreading to a school near you. | |
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Sadly, No!: Yeah, that totally sounds like Christina Ricci's fault — According to Michelle Malkin, if teenagers are into cutting... Greg @BeggingToDiffer: MICHELE MALKIN HAS THE OUTSIDE SCOOP — In this article for TownHall.com, Michele Malkin inserts the following odd and... |
Michele Catalano: Michelle Malkin does no better in laying the blame on Christina Ricci and Llamabutchers raises my hackles by suggesting... Jesse Taylor: Opinions Actually Are Like Assholes... I want to thank Michele Catalano for writing that response to this remarkably stupid Michelle Malkin piece. |
Trouble Between Friends?; The '06 Factor; A Fading Star? CNN — Permalink THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. ANNOUNCER: Another day of buddying up by President Bush in Europe. Will his next stop be the toughest, when he looks into the eyes of his old pal Vladimir Putin? | |
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Sam Rosenfeld: Meanwhile, the visionary libertarian wing and the thuggish, White House-deputized smear operation wing of the... Josh Marshall: Here's how the interview started... [snipped quote] Unfortunately, Woodruff didn't follow up, and the answer stood. |
Kevin Drum: After some blustering about how AARP is the "largest left liberal lobbying organization on the planet" and "we are going... |
Freedom? Why Europe's not bothered By / Telegraph — Permalink The first neighbourhood that I lived in when I arrived in London in the 1960s was Earl's Court. Needless to say, I had much opportunity to acquaint myself with the Australian accent. What struck me immediately was its uncanny resemblance to the speech of my own relatives in Boston. | |
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Donald Sensing: Link parking — Here are some references that I want tyo write about, and insallah will do so soon. In the meantime, read 'em! Roger L. Simon: Another Dark View of the Euro-American Dialogue... by Janet Daley is closer to Steyn than Bay (see below) and... Sims @SouthernAppeal: Janet Daley has written an absolutely wonderful op/ed in today's Telegraph (reg. req'd) comparing European and American ideas of freedom and democracy. |
Barbara O'Brien: Freedom's Just Another Word ... I want to say a little more about Robert Kuttner's op ed in today's Boston Globe and... Dale Franks: Janet Daley writes that if George Bush thinks his trip to Europe will rally Old Europe to his side in spreading democracy, then he's got another think coming. Peter Burnet: "A" FOR EFFORT, "D" FOR ACHIEVEMENT — Freedom? |
Patents Pending By / American Prospect — Permalink Unless the drug industry starts to negotiate significantly lower prices, it may find itself battling debt-strapped states for control over the manufacture of drugs. States already take land and other property in order to benefit the public by building things such as roads and schools. | |
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Avedon Carol: Appropriating drug patents under eminent domain laws, writes Barbara T. Dreyfuss, something already under consideration in West Virginia and Washington, DC. Nathan Newman: That's an idea being proposed in Washington, D.C., and which Canada already threatens to do routinely to force companies to produce drugs more cheaply. |
Jim Dallas: But, thankfully, the American Prospect pitches an idea to use all of this awesome power for good instead of evil. |
Bush fails to close gap with European Union Financial Times — Permalink President George W. Bush on Tuesday night completed a two-day charm offensive in Brussels but failed to narrow the divide with European Union leaders over arms sales to China, tactics towards Iran or the future of Nato. | |
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Arnold P. California: Bush Fails To Close Gap With Europe (You heard it here first! Well, maybe not, but we did write about it. Repeatedly.) Mimus Pauly: from the financial times: "president george w. bush on tuesday night completed a two-day charm offensive in brussels... |
Paul McLeary: Or, as the Financial Times puts it, "President George W. Bush ... failed to narrow the divide with European Union... |
Iraqi TV Airs Tape of Purported Confession of Captured Syrian Officer Who Siad He Trained Insurgents By / AP — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq Feb 23, 2005 — Iraqi state television aired a video Wednesday showing what the U.S.-funded channel said was the confession of a captured Syrian officer who said he trained Iraqi insurgents to behead people and build car bombs to attack American and Iraqi troops. | |
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Colt on: Thursday's Winds of War briefings are given by me, Colt, of Eurabian Times. TOP TOPICS Confessions, confessions. Jonah Goldberg: SYRIANS TRAINING INSURGENTS — An alleged Syrian officer confesses Since this appeared on a US-backed Iraqi TV station, I really, really hope it pans out as authentic. |
Charles Johnson: Iraqi TV Airs Syrian Confession — Iraqi TV has shown video of a captured Syrian officer, confessing that he trained... |
The New 65 By / Slate — Permalink Here's what we've learned from the Social Security debate so far. Republicans are right that the system is heading for bankruptcy. Democrats are right that personal retirement accounts, whatever their future merits, won't pay off the system's current debts. | |
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Matthew Yglesias: Things That Make You Say: "Whatever" — Will Saletan wants to raise the retirement age. Kevin Drum says "no way". Tim Lee: Retirement Liberty — Kevin Drum and Will Saletan are arguing about the merits of raising the retirement age. Will says we should. |
Kevin Drum: RETIREMENT AGE....Will Saletan has a long, number-filled column today spelling out the reasons we should raise the retirement age for Social Security. |
Iran jails blogger for 14 years BBC — Permalink An Iranian weblogger has been jailed for 14 years on charges of spying and aiding foreign counter-revolutionaries. Arash Sigarchi was arrested last month after using his blog to criticise the arrest of other online journalists. | |
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Marcus @HarrysPlace: Today one of them was sentenced to 14 years in jail. Why ? Scott Sala: Iranian Blogger Gets 14 years in Prison — As the blogosphere spent a day posting about the jailed Iranian bloggers,... |
Roger L. Simon: According to the BBC: An Iranian weblogger has been jailed for 14 years on charges of spying and aiding foreign counter-revolutionaries. |
In Defense of Citizen Journalism By / Editor and Publisher — Permalink Earlier this month, the Poynter Institute (where I work as a senior editor for Poynter.org) held its Web+10 Seminar. It was a fascinating exploration of what journalism will look like in the next 10 years. And a big chunk of the discussion was about what we're calling "citizen journalism." | |
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Avedon Carol: Jonathan Dresner on Pipes' Privateers Dan Gillmor recommends this article defending citizen journalism. Dan Gillmor: Defending Citizen Journalism — In the Web pages of Editor & Publisher, the trade journal for the newspaper industry, Steve Outing explains reality to a mostly hidebound business. |
Jay Rosen: Steve Outing at Editor and Publisher, whose column is called Stop the Presses: "Too many people at leadership positions... |
CBS News' Boss Hired Private Eye To Source Memos By / New York Observer — Permalink On Sept. 20 of last year, CBS announced that it was employing an independent panel to investigate how 60 Minutes Wednesday had ended up relying on shaky-looking memos in its segment about President Bush's past service in the Texas Air National Guard. | |
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Avedon Carol: Joe Hagan at The New York Observer says CBS News' Boss Hired Private Eye To Source Memos - except instead they just got a lot of personal crap on the production team instead. Brian Stelter: Five days after CBS announced an investigation into the Killian memos last September, "the network hired a private... Jonah Goldberg: CBS FORGOT TO MENTION — The private eye it hired to investigate the memos. |
The Big Trunk: Lucianne points out this interesting New York Observer story by Joe Hagan: "CBS News' boss hired private eye to source memo." Stephen Green: Pretty damning stuff from the New York Observer: [snipped quote] Joe Hagan has written a fairly lengthy piece, but it's worth reading. |
Ruling blocks racial segregation of prisoners AP — Permalink WASHINGTON — State prisons cannot temporarily segregate inmates by race except under the most extraordinary circumstances, the Supreme Court said today, all but ending a long-standing California policy aimed at reducing gang-related violence. | |
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Matthew Yglesias: Instead what we had was "an unwritten California policy requiring officials to automatically bunk inmates by race for the first 60 days after their arrival. |
Jeralyn Merritt: Supreme Court Says 'No' to Racially Segregated Prisons — The Supreme Court has ruled in Johnson v. California, that... |
Amid Low Rainy-Day Savings, Proposals for New Incentives WSJ — Permalink Do Americans spend too much and save too little? In October, personal savings as a percentage of disposable income, as calculated by the Commerce Department, dropped to 0.2%, the second-lowest level on record. (The measure has since rebounded, helped in part by a one-time Microsoft dividend.) | |
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Arnold Kling: For example, there is David Altig's Macroblog, which I had not heard of until today, when Altig was paired with Alex... Brian Keegan: Lots of good thinking about government policy related to saving at the WSJ Econoblog. |
Will Wilkinson: Alex Tabarrok (like his co-blogger, also at least as good an economist as Michael Kinsley) makes this sort of... Alex Tabarrok: David Altig and I are featured in this week's WSJ Econoblog on the topic of the "savings crisis," with sidetrips into... |
The Thompson Style: A Sense of Self, and Outrage By / NYT — Permalink Hunter S. Thompson died on Sunday, alone with a gun in his kitchen in Woody Creek, Colo. In doing so, he added heft to a legend that came to obscure his gifts as one of journalism's most influential practitioners. | |
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Ann Althouse: Just to take the NYT, in addition to the usual obituary, there are a number of extra articles, like "The Thompson Style:... |
Matt Welch: HST Obits Worth Peeking at: By Tom Wolfe, P.J. Corkery, Alexander Cockburn, Al Giordano, Ed Quillen, Nikki Finke, David Carr, and Christopher Hitchens. |
Thompson's Ashes May Be Shot From Cannon By / AP — Permalink DENVER - Hunter S. Thompson, the "gonzo journalist" with a penchant for drugs, guns and flame-thrower prose, might have one more salvo in store for everyone: Friends and relatives want to blast his ashes out of a cannon, just as he wished. | |
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Ann Althouse: In contrast to the usual circumspection about the use of guns, the Times picks up an AP story that begins this way:... |
Donald Sensing: Update: Speaking of cannons: [snipped quote] Well, it's different, I'll grant you that. HT: Max Jackson via email. |
Revealed: the rush to war By / Guardian — Permalink The attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, warned less than two weeks before the invasion of Iraq that military action could be ruled illegal. The government was so concerned that it might be prosecuted it set up a team of lawyers to prepare for legal action in an international court. | |
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Arnold P. California: And the one that has Tony Blair on the defensive again: Britain Reveals Iraq War Ruled Illegal That headline is misleading, if not downright wrong. Holden: read all about it in the guardian. |
Norm Geras: It splashes it across the top half of its front page; it also devotes the lead editorial to it. |
Will Chris Rock Be Oscar Dyn-O-Mite? By / LA Weekly — Permalink At a time when Hollywood crybabies and their Big Media daddies are crumbling under pressure from conservatives, Chris Rock is, well, like a rock. That's why, at the Academy Awards this Sunday, you can count on the guy who may well be the funniest comedian... | |
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Roger L. Simon: Okay, there's no such thing as "rewrite," but it sure looks like it's going to be a loooong Oscar Night if the best... |
Kevin Roderick: Of course Rock will bash Bush — Nikki Finke reports in the LA Weekly that host Chris Rock will tone it down a little... |
Access to Memos Is Affirmed By / WaPo — Permalink The Justice Department has backed away from a court battle over its authority to classify and restrict the discussion of information it has already released, handing a local advocacy group a victory by granting it explicit permission to publish letters written by two senators that contain the contested information. | |
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Arnold P. California: Another brilliant piece of Demagoguery.) Bush Budget Leaves Children Hungry (Are you really surprised?) Justice Dept. |
Kevin Drum: Really, all they're doing is admitting that they can't reclassify stuff they've already released publicly. But it's a start. |
Judge Extends Stay Keeping Brain-Damaged Woman Alive Two More Days in Florida Right-To-Die Case By / AP — Permalink CLEARWATER, Fla. Feb 23, 2005 — A judge Wednesday extended a stay keeping brain-damaged Terri Schiavo's feeding tube in place, saying he needed time to decide whether her husband, who wants to let her die, is fit to be her guardian. | |
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Michelle Malkin |: The latest bombshell is Pinellas Circuit Court Judge George Greer's decision to extend a stay keeping Terri's feeding tube in place. |
K. J. Lopez: TERRI SCHIAVO gets another extension |
Company's Work in Iraq Profited Bush's Uncle By / LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — The Iraq war helped bring record earnings to St. Louis-based defense contractor Engineered Support Systems Inc., and new financial data show that the firm's war-related profits have trickled down to a familiar family name — Bush. William H.T. | |
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Howard Kurtz: Some Europeans worry that this really is the 'same old Bush.'" Another Bush scores in Iraq, reports the Los Angeles... Susan Madrak: ALL IN THE FAMILY — Gotta love those Bush family ties: [snipped quote] Oh, come on. Half a million? That's chump change to these crooks. |
Lambert @Corrente: Bush Family Values: "Uncle Bucky" makes a packet on that armor we still don't have enough of — From actual reporting in... |
French comic tries to justify criticism of Holocaust 'pornography' By / Independent — Permalink A flare-up of racial tension has been sparked off in France after a black stand-up comic, Dieudonné, was reported to have said that the 60th anniversary commemorations of the Holocaust were "remembrance pornography". | |
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Gene @HarrysPlace: Anyone laughing? Are there actually people in France who find this "comedian" funny? Norm Geras: Another day, another dose of poison — Drip, drip, drip... "A flare-up of racial tension has been sparked off in France... |
Joe Gandelman: A French "comedian" is sinking to the lowest depths for his "humor," doing an act containing seemingly anti-semitic statements. Pejman Yousefzadeh: "ANTI-SEMITISM SCARCELY EXISTS IN THE WEST" — Holocaust remembrance apparently qualifies as "pornography": [snipped quote] The good news is that this comic is being condemned. |
Bush Says United Front Is Essential to Curb Iran By / NYT — Permalink WIESBADEN, Germany, Feb. 23 - President Bush said today that he and the Germans, British and French had discussed a series of negotiating tactics to try to get Iran to give up its suspected nuclear weapons program, but he gave no indication that the United... | |
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Paul McLeary: Back in the reality-based community, the New York Times takes a decidedly more skeptical approach in an afternoon story,... |
Matthew Yglesias: America's Iran policy may be failing, but the president wants to make clear that it's not his fault |
Justices Accept Oregon Case Weighing Assisted Suicide By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 - In an action likely to reopen a national debate over whether doctors should be able to help terminally ill patients end their lives, the Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to hear the Bush administration's challenge to the only state law in the country that authorizes physician-assisted suicide. | |
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Mark Kleiman: Controlled substances, assisted suicide, the Justice Department, and the courts — Summary: The assisted suicide case... Jacob Sullum: National Medical Board — Yesterday the Supreme Court agreed to hear the Bush administration's appeal of a decision that barred it from overriding Oregon's assisted-suicide law. |
Ann Althouse: Here's Linda Greenhouse's analysis of the Oregon assisted suicide case, which the Supreme Court announced yesterday it would hear. |
Bush gets weak support for program cuts AP — Permalink WASHINGTON - It isn't hard to understand why few in Washington are taking President Bush's proposal to kill or cut 154 programs very seriously. Just listen to members of his own party. | |
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John Hawkins: Bush To Boost Spending on GOP Spinal Research By Scott Ott — In an effort to strengthen Congressional Republicans'... |
Orrin Judd: THIS IS WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE WHEN HAWKS CRY: Bush gets weak support for program cuts: Even loyal Republicans oppose many... |
Who killed Rafik Hariri? By / Guardian — Permalink If Syria killed Rafik Hariri, Lebanon's former prime minister and mastermind of its revival after the civil war, it must be judged an act of political suicide. Syria is already under great international pressure from the US, France and Israel. | |
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Arthur Chrenkoff: One person who agrees - kind of - is Patrick Seale in the "Guardian": [quote] "If Syria killed Rafik Hariri, Lebanon's former...[end quote] |
Orrin Judd: APPARENTLY THERE WAS YELLOWCAKE IN THE BOMB: Who killed Rafik Hariri? |
Prehistoric polluters Independent — Permalink Once upon a time, Australia had a lush, green interior where grazing animals roamed, shrubs grew and the rain fell. Then, about 55,000 years ago, man arrived and started hunting the animals and burning the vegetation; ultimately, he drove the rain away and turned Australia's interior into the harsh, red, desert landscape that we see today. | |
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Natasha @PacificViews: Should human societies fail to make progress on managing pollution and the landscape better, the Australian outback... |
Richard Schwartz: It Doesn't Take Modern Technology To Ruin a Continent — It seems like humans have been messing about on a continental scale for much of our history on the planet. |