meme orandum
| Fresh brewed news plus stewing views |
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President's Press Conference White House — Permalink James S. Brady Briefing Room THE PRESIDENT: Thank you for giving me a chance to come by and say hello. I'm preparing for my trip out of town for Easter — the Easter week, and I thought I'd share some thoughts with you and answer some questions. | |
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Chris Bowers: From the horse's mouth: [snipped quote] Bush has no plan. He openly admits this. Hugh Hewitt: From the President's press conference this morning: THE PRESIDENT: Elisabeth. Think Progress Team: President Bush, 3/16/05 VERSUS "President Bush's plan allows you to make a decision to put your money in a different... |
Hindrocket: Where Is Jeff Gannon When We Need Him? President Bush gave a press conference today. Which reminds us why he doesn't do it more often. Kevin Drum: BUSH'S VISION....President Bush tells the nation about his, um, vision for Social Security: "THE PRESIDENT: I have not laid out a plan yet, intentionally. Judd @ThinkProgress: Bamboozlepalooza: Day 14 — Apparently, all ideas are not exactly "on the table." |
Girl Fight By / Slate — Permalink Everyone here at Slate kept hoping that the dustup over the number of female opinion writers on the editorial pages of the nation's newspapers would just go away—none of us really wanted to dignify Susan Estrich's ad hominem attacks on Mike Kinsley, our... | |
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Kevin Drum: Dahlia Lithwick agrees: "I know an awful lot of smart, accomplished women who avoid both the op-ed pages and the... Tom Maguire: UPDATE: Dahlia Lithwick is journalism's answer to Dr. Kevorkian, urging her male colleagues to commit professional... |
Eugene Volokh: The Debate Over the "Underrepresentation" of Women Opinion Writers: Dahlia Lithwick (Slate) has an excellent piece on... Laura Rozen: Jeanne D'Arc and Kevin Drum have more thoughts on women and blogging. Dahlia Lithwick too. |
Bush Chooses a Top Pentagon Aide to Head the World Bank By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, March 16 - President Bush said today that he would nominate Paul D. Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defense and one of the chief architects of the invasion of Iraq two years ago, to become president of the World Bank. | |
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Hugh Hewitt: Check out her amazing filing this afternoon (co-authored with David Sager.) Talk about deep, deep bias free of even a thin attempt to disguise it. Orrin Judd: PITY THE POOR TIMESMEN: They can't even bring themselves to use the man's name in their headline: Bush Chooses a Top... |
Glenn Reynolds: UPDATE: A reader suggests that it may be Elizabeth Becker of The New York Times, who coauthored this story on... |
Who Gets It? Hillary By / NYT — Permalink If the Democratic Party wants to figure out how to win national elections again, it has an unexpected guide: Hillary Rodham Clinton. Senator Clinton, much more than most in her party, understands how the national Democratic Party needs to rebrand itself. | |
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Barbara O'Brien: Getting It — The story thus far: Nick Kristof writes an op-ed called "Who Gets It? Hillary." Now, there's a knee-slapper, huh? Dale Franks: Playing to win — Nicholas Kristoff writes that the Democrats should be taking lessons from Hillary Clinton about how to reconnect with the Heartland. Jesse Taylor: Crusade's Off For Today — Via No More Mister Nice Blog, Nick Kristof is celebrating Hillary's womanly virtues. |
Tom Maguire: (II) Nick Kristof is the latest to recycle last fall's debunked Democratic talking point that abortions fell under... Vanderleun: Not Likely PITY THE DEEPLY CONFLICTED NICK KRISTOF IN TODAY'S NEW YORK TIMES' Who Gets It? Hillary. Steve M.: Nicholas Kristof in today's New York Times You uppity women I don't understand Why you gotta go and try to act like a... |
| Also: Captain Ed, David Allan Pell, Roger Ailes, Avedon Carol, Orrin Judd, Ellen Dana Nagler | |
U.S. Report Lists Possibilities for Terrorist Attacks and Likely Toll By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, March 15 - The Department of Homeland Security, trying to focus antiterrorism spending better nationwide, has identified a dozen possible strikes it views as most plausible or devastating, including detonation of a nuclear device in a major city, release of sarin nerve agent in office buildings and a truck bombing of a sports arena. | |
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Colt: More here, with the likely death tolls for different attacks... In 1996, President Clinton tried to convince the Saudis to behead Osama Bin Laden. Joe Gandelman: Homeland Security's Risk Based Planning Scenarios — Homeland Security policymakers have itemized some of the... Mipe @ThinkProgress: Bush's Budget vs. Homeland Security — In order to set spending priorities, the Department of Homeland Security has put together a list of possible terrorist attacks. |
Charles Johnson: US Report Lists Possible Attacks — I'm glad to read that the Department of Homeland Security has actually given some... McQ: Terror Scenarios — The NY Times is reporting it has obtained a planning document prepared by the Homeland Security Department. Cori Dauber: So, as the Times reports today: The Department of Homeland Security, trying to focus antiterrorism spending better... |
| Also: James Joyner, Michael Froomkin | |
Writing Women Into a Corner By / WaPo — Permalink This week I had planned to write a column about Sinn Fein, the political front organization for the Irish Republican Army, whose leaders have recently been linked to acts of murder and grand larceny. | |
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Kevin Drum: Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum says the whole issue is "a storm in the media teacup." Betsy Newmark: Anne Applebaum doesn't like being reduced to a token by feminists like Susan Estrich calling for more female columnists. Vanderleun: UPDATE: The distinguished Anne Applebaum of the Washington Post knocks the whole issue and the despicable and... |
Tom Maguire: Do Not Turn Your Back On This Woman — Writing on the Susan Estrich/Micheal Kinsley debacle, Anne Applebaum of the WaPo brings a knife to a catfight. Joanne Jacobs: Mad women — Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum is seriously pissed at Susan Estrich's campaign to boost the number of op-ed columns by women. James Joyner: Writing Women Into a Corner — Anne Applebaum is hopping mad over Susan Estrich's calls for more newspapers to hire more women columnists and other such expressions of tokenism. |
| Also: Glenn Reynolds, The Big Trunk, Julian Sanchez, Andrew Sullivan, Cori Dauber | |
Senate Votes to Open Alaskan Oil Drilling By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON - A closely divided Senate voted Wednesday to approve oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge, a major victory for President Bush and a stinging defeat for environmentalists who have fought the idea for decades. | |
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Steve Soto: GOP Wins ANWR Vote In Senate By 51-49 — The GOP just won the ANWR vote in the Senate, by only a 51-49 vote. Ace: Wow: Drilling In the Arctic Wildlife Refuge (Wasteland) Approved By the Senate 51-49, no filibuster permitted: [snipped quote] I really didn't think they'd ever manage this one. |
SK Bubba: Kudos to the United States Senate... again! Our Senate just voted to open up the Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling. Lorie Byrd: ANWR And Butch Caribou — Ace has an interesting take on the Senate vote to allow drilling in ANWR. |
Wolfowitz tapped to lead World Bank AP — Permalink WASHINGTON - President Bush will recommend that Defense Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz take over as head of the World Bank, a senior administration official said Wednesday. Wolfowitz has been Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's top deputy and a lightning rod for criticism over the U.S. invasion of Iraq and other defense policies. | |
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Sarah Wildman: As I write this, George W. Bush officially is officially announcing that Paul Wolfowitz will take over the World Bank when James Wolfensohn steps down in May. Nico @ThinkProgress: Breaking: Wolfowitz for President — President Bush will today name Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, a prime architect of the war in Iraq, as president of the World Bank. James Joyner: Update (1158): AP has more details NYT, MSNBC, YahooNews "House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., expressed skepticism over Bush's selection. |
Steve Clemons: BREAKING NEWS: Paul Wolfowitz to Head World Bank — Wolfowitz tapped to head World Bank Pentagon official to replace... Jan Haugland: Wolfowitz for World Bank - let the conspiracy theories flow — President Bush has nominated Defense Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz for the top job at the World Bank. Vanderleun: Thinking Right — And You Can Take That to the Bank Onward and upward in DC vs. Back to the Streets with No Name FILE... |
Iraqis Say Italians Aren't Cooperating in Kidnapping Investigation By / NYT — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 15 - Iraqi investigators who are trying to find the kidnappers of the Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena say their work has been stymied by a lack of cooperation from the Italian intelligence services that won her release exactly a month after she was abducted on Feb. 4. | |
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Kevin Aylward: Iraqis Say Italians Aren't Cooperating in Kidnapping Investigation — James Glanz in The New York Times reports that... Cori Dauber: The headline reads, "Iraqis Say Italians Aren't Cooperating in Kidnapping Investigation," but in fact that's a bit misleading. |
Colt: THE MIDDLE EAST Iraqi investigators says Italian intelligence is not co-operating? in the hunt for the 'kidnappers'. Rich Lowry: From the New York Times: "Iraqi investigators who are trying to find the kidnappers of the Italian journalist Giuliana... |
Starving for a Fair Diagnosis By / NRO — Permalink Terri Schiavo lies in a Florida hospice, subject to a judge's order that will cause her to die of starvation and dehydration commencing this Friday, March 18, at 1:00 P.M. Her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have fought for over a decade to prevent her death. | |
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DJ Drummond: Read this column in 'National Review Online', which was highlighted today by Hugh Hewitt. Dale Franks: The Rev. Robert Johansen writes in NRO about the case, and some serious medical disagreements about Ms. Schiavo's condition from neurologists. |
Hugh Hewitt: Over at NationalReview.com, there is a stunning article by Father Robert Johansen on the failure of Terri Schiavo's... |
President's Press Conference LAT — Permalink PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you for giving me a chance to come by and say hello. I'm preparing for my trip out of town for Easter — Easter week. And I thought I'd share some thoughts with you and answer some questions. I am looking forward to continuing my dialogue with the people on Social Security. | |
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PGL: Today the President said this morning that he found Robert Pozen's plan interesting: [snipped quote] I do not know if... Betsy Newmark: Check out the Beltway Buzz for comments on Bush's press conference. |
Jonathan Chait: And in his press conference today, Bush repeated, "I have not laid out a plan yet — intentionally. I have laid out principles." Atrios: Bush on Social Security — "I have not laid out a plan yet." |
Senate Votes to Open Oil Drilling in ANWR AP — Permalink WASHINGTON — Amid the backdrop of soaring oil and gasoline prices, a sharply divided Senate on Wednesday voted to open the ecologically rich Alaska wildlife refuge (search) to oil drilling, delivering a major energy policy win for President Bush. | |
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Deacon: Common sense narrowly prevails — The Senate has voted to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration. K. J. Lopez: ALSO IN THE SENATE — An up vote for ANWR drilling |
Vanderleun: Analog World — Well, There Goes the Tundrahood [snipped quote] — FOXNews Outraged caribou vowed to migrate to Canada. |
Effort increase Amtrak's funding fails to pass Senate Newsday — Permalink WASHINGTON — An effort in the Senate to increase federal subsidies for the beleaguered Amtrak system failed to pass Wednesday. The amendment, offered by Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., would have added $1.04 billion to government financial assistance for the system. | |
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Avedon Carol: Discover the Nutwork - because John Holbo had too much time on his hands. (via) Atrios says they are probably going to use the privatization ploy on Amtrack. |
Atrios: Amtrak — Looks like they may succeed in killing it. |
2 Years After Invasion, Poll Data Mixed WaPo — Permalink Two years after President Bush led the country to war in Iraq, Americans appear to be of two minds about the situation in the Middle East: A majority say they believe the Iraqis are better off today than they were before the conflict began — but they also say... | |
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Tom Tomorrow: Full story. Jon @ThinkProgress: The Truth Deficit — Buried in today's Washington Post article about a new poll showing 53 percent of Americans think... Taegan Goddard: Americans Still Divided on Iraq War — [snipped quote] according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Link | Related News |
Hugh Hewitt: As the New York Times covers the first meeting of a democratically-elected Iraqi national assembly the Washington... Orrin Judd: LEAD AND THEY'LL FOLLOW: 2 Years After Invasion, Poll Data Mixed (Dan Balz and Richard Morin, March 16, 2005, Washington... |
Collapsing Temples in Gaza By / NRO — Permalink Some 3,000 years ago, Samson brought down the Philistine temple in Gaza, and this month, Gaza stands a good chance of bringing down the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. | |
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Charles Johnson: Meet the New Boss — A harsh but much-needed dose of Middle East reality from Barbara Lerner, as mainstream media... |
Joseph Alexander Norland: Today's [2005_03_16] NRO posts an exceptionally fine article, "Collapsing Temples in Gaza", by Barbara Lerner, warning against the dangers of The General's plot. |
Activists decry Wolfowitz choice, analysts divided By / Reuters — Permalink WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - Development activists on Wednesday decried the Bush administration's choice of Iraq war architect Paul Wolfowitz to lead the World Bank, although some analysts said he might bring needed toughness to the job. | |
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Arthur Chrenkoff: American experts are hardly more enthusiastic. |
Orrin Judd: Activists decry Wolfowitz choice, analysts divided (Laura MacInnis, March 16, 2005, Reuters) "Development activists on... |
Europeans Surprised by Wolfowitz Bank Appointment WaPo — Permalink PARIS, March 16 — President Bush's nomination of Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz as the next president of the World Bank was met with much surprise, little enthusiasm and some outright opposition in Europe, where he is best known as a leading architect of a conflict deeply unpopular here, the Iraq war. | |
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Arthur Chrenkoff: Update: Spare a thought for the poor, confused Europeans. |
Orrin Judd: PROTOCOL OF THE ELDER OF CRAWFORD: Europeans Surprised by Wolfowitz Bank Appointment: Many Suspicious of Man Viewed as... |
Man With 'TIPSY' Plate Faces DUI Charges AP — Permalink MOORHEAD, Minn. - Having a vanity plate that reads "TIPSY" may not be such a great idea after all. Josiah Johnson, 23, said his license plate might have tipped off the Clay County sheriff's deputy who pulled him over Friday after he left Coach's Sports Pub in Moorhead. | |
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Ed Driscoll: Gee, here's a shocker: AP reports that a Minnesota man with a license plate that reads "TIPSY" faces DUI charges after being pulled over leaving a sports bar. |
Joe Gandelman: You could update this: if you want to send a cop a message put it on your license plate. |
Iran hardliners keep lid on ancient fire festival By / Reuters — Permalink ISFAHAN, Iran, March 16 (Reuters) - Iranian authorities beat up and tear gassed exuberant young revellers as they breathed new life into a pre-Islamic fire festival with a night of dancing, flirting and fireworks. | |
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Jan Haugland: Reuters also reports on the festival and the unrest, but omits any references to anti-government slogans. Pejman Yousefzadeh: NO NEW YEAR IN IRAN — Why am I not surprised? [snipped quote] It should be noted that attempting to stifle Noruz or New... |
Orrin Judd: WHY NOT US, WE STARTED IT: Iran hardliners keep lid on ancient fire festival (Christian Oliver, March 16, 2005, Reuters) [snipped quote] The tinder only requires one good spark. |
Bush to Recommend Wolfowitz for World Bank Post AP — Permalink WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush on Wednesday tapped Defense Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who has been a lightning rod for criticism of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and other defense policies, to take over as head of the World Bank. | |
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Jeremy Reff: More below the fold, but also... Bush goes with the "aw shucks, what the Hell?" appointment with an amusing pick for the... Steve Soto: Bush Rewards Wolfie For His Mistakes With World Bank Nomination — Graphic courtesy of PollingReport.com Yup, as the... |
Matthew Yglesias: As had been rumored, and then not-rumored, Bush apparently will appoint Paul Wolfowitz to the World Bank after all. |
Actor Robert Blake acquitted of murdering his wife in 2001 By / AP — Permalink (03-16) 16:04 PST Los Angeles (AP) — A jury acquitted tough-guy actor Robert Blake of murder in the shooting death of his wife four years ago, bringing a stunning end Wednesday to a case that played out like pulp fiction. | |
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TChris: And so a jury that took seriously its oath to follow the law found reason to doubt that Robert Blake killed his wife,... |
Tim Cavanaugh: He Won't Do the Time — Robert Blake walks. |
Syria Agents End Presence in Lebanon By / AP — Permalink BEIRUT, Lebanon - Syrian intelligence agents ended their 18-year presence in Beirut on Wednesday, and emboldened residents of the capital came forward to celebrate. Some kissed the ground and others wept, wandering the basement cellblock at the headquarters and describing torture there. | |
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Pejman Yousefzadeh: STILL MORE PROGRESS — Beirut has been detoxified. |
Captain Ed: After Syrian intelligence personnel abandoned their stations in all but the easternmost part of Lebanon today, the... |
Paul Wolfowitz to Be Nominated as Next World Bank President Bloomberg — Permalink March 16 (Bloomberg) — Paul D. Wolfowitz, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, will be nominated to be the next head of the World Bank, a U.S. official said. President George W. Bush will name Wolfowitz later today, the official said. | |
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Digby: And his new job is to carry out yet another aspect of that assignnent: "Under Wolfowitz, the Bush administration may now... Sarah Wildman: As long as you're resigning yourself to the idea of President Wolfowitz, see this good Bloomberg run down of what the... |
Ezra Klein: Update: Think Progress has more on why this is a nightmare. Update 2: Here's more on the changes Wolfowitz might make. |
U.S. Military Says 26 Inmate Deaths May Be Homicide NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, March 15 - At least 26 prisoners have died in American custody in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002 in what Army and Navy investigators have concluded or suspect were acts of criminal homicide, according to military officials. | |
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Andrew Sullivan: Now we have 26 criminal homicides of detainees. There will be more to come. Tom Tomorrow: More wacky fraternity hijinx — Isn't that how Rush Limbaugh described Abu Ghraib? [snipped quote] Story. |
Vanderleun: Very little if at all, especially since this story of the homicide deaths of 0.00052% of the 50,000 prisoners held by... |
Reid's letter to serve as his warning The Hill — Permalink Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) warned Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) yesterday that Democrats will stop working with Republicans on most legislation if Republicans invoke the so-called "nuclear option" on judges. | |
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Pejman Yousefzadeh: I DO NOT THINK THAT ANALOGY MEANS WHAT YOU THINK IT MEANS — To speak to his outrage regarding the possibility of a... |
Captain Ed: Byrd, who himself authored four changes to the filibuster rule as Senate Majority Leader to favor the majority, told The... |
Moonbats on parade By / Townhall.com — Permalink With freedom on the move across the Middle East and beyond, aggrieved anti-war protesters here in the United States have nothing better to do this weekend than what they have always done: stand in the way. | |
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Barbara O'Brien: Michelle Malkin: Democracy Is for Moonbats — Michelle Malkin writes about this weekend's planned anti-war protests Captain Ed: Moonbat Lemmings, Leftward March — Michelle Malkin has an excellent column today on plans by anti-war protestors to... Judith Weiss: UPDATE: I don't agree with Michelle Malkin on many things, but we can both roll our eyes about this. |
S.Z.: Michelle Malkin "Unhinged left-wing activists" are going to be organizing anti-war protests to "mark the two-year anniversary of the U.S. bombing and invasion of Iraq." The Big Trunk: I don't know how our friends at RCP missed this one, but Michelle Malkin's column runs neck-and-neck with Blankley's as best of the day: "Moonbats on parade." |
Bush to Tap Wolfowitz as New World Bank President Reuters — Permalink Mar 16, 2005 — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, a lightning rod for controversy as one of the main advocates for the Iraq war, is President Bush's choice for World Bank president, administration officials said on Wednesday. | |
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Steve Bainbridge: Now he appoints Paul Wolfowitz to be head of the World Bank. (Personally, I was rooting for Bono.) Matt Welch: Wolfowitz in Banker's Clothing — The most famous deputy defense secretary in the history of my memory is Dubya's choice to head up the World Bank. |
Barbara O'Brien: At Least He'd Be Out of the Pentagon — Reuters reports that Bush has nominated Paul Wolfowitz to be president of the World Bank. |
White House Briefing WaPo — Permalink Social Security remains at the top of President Bush's agenda, and he was more forthcoming about it yesterday, in a roundtable interview with regional newspaper reporters, than he was at this morning's press conference. | |
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Jonathan Chait: According to Dan Froomkin's White House Briefing at the Washington Post online, Bush told a roundtable of reporters... |
David Allan Pell: No Charm, No Foul — President Bush continued what some have described as his charm offensive in Europe. His message? |
Bush Defends Packaged News Stories from Government Reuters — Permalink WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush said on Wednesday that the U.S. government's practice of sending packaged news stories to local television stations was legal and he had no plans to cease it. | |
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TChris: Instead, he's proud, and he doesn't intend to change the practice. |
Ed Cone: Reuters: [snipped quote] — Well, as long as we're protected by the high standards of local TV news... |
Senate Votes to Allow Drilling in Arctic Reserve By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, March 16 - The Senate endorsed oil-drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge today, giving President Bush and others who favor exploration of the Alaska wilderness a major victory. | |
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Mathew Gross: Senate Approves Drilling — Bastards. Not the final word— but a dirty one. |
Leah A: This just in: The NYTimes has the breakdown of votes and some additional information, including the fact that another... |
Pinochet Stashed Millions in 125 U.S. Bank Accounts (Update4) Bloomberg — Permalink March 16 (Bloomberg) — Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and his family over 25 years stashed at least $15 million in more than 125 hidden accounts at Citigroup Inc. and other banks, a U.S. Senate report said. | |
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Randy Paul: 125 Accounts — That's how many different bank accounts Augusto Pinochet, accused criminal against humanity, and his... |
Roger L. Simon: , Chile's Gustavo Pinochet seems to have distributed a fair amount of hidden cash around the world, including... |
Wolfowitz tapped for World Bank CNN — Permalink WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Bush will announce that Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz is his choice to be president of the World Bank, a senior administration official told CNN Wednesday. Wolfowitz was one of the main advocates for the war in Iraq. | |
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Roger L. Simon: A Good Man Rewarded - UPDATED — It had been rumored for several weeks and now CNN is confirming that George W. Bush is... |
James Joyner: Bush to pick Wolfowitz for World Ban (CNN) "President Bush will announce that Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz... |
Bush to Recommend Wolfowitz for World Bank By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON - President Bush will recommend that Defense Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz take over as head of the World Bank , a senior administration official said Wednesday. Wolfowitz has been Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's top deputy and a lightning rod for criticism over the U.S. invasion of Iraq and other defense policies. | |
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Kash: A New Head of the World Bank — In the wake of Bush's appointment of Josh Bolton (Mr. "There is no United Nations... Mathew Gross: Wolfowitz to Head World Bank — Rewarding incompetence, one radical crony at a time.... |
Jeff Jarvis: So much for Bono : Paul Wolfowitz will be the next head of the World Bank. To his seething detractors, look at this way: He won't be armed. |
With DeLay in the Spotlight, Republicans Feeling the Heat LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — This should be a time to savor for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas. Republicans dominate Washington, a political achievement that DeLay — with his hardball tactics, consummate fundraising skills and emphasis on party discipline — played a key role in securing. | |
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Steve Soto: Bush, this morning at his press conference Bush had an interesting press conference this morning. JollyBuddah: Putting Heat on Tom DeLay — From the diaries—Chris An excellent investigative article in the L.A. Times, With DeLay in the Spotlight, Republicans Feeling the Heat. |
Charles Kuffner: Facts are meaningless, it's all about partisanship to him. The good news is that all this is starting to play in Peoria. |
C-SPAN's Shaky Balance Honest Reporting — Permalink The cable network insists on granting air time to a notorious Holocaust denier. Yesterday (3/15), leaders from more than 40 nations gathered in Jerusalem to dedicate a new, expanded Yad Vashem Holocaust museum. | |
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Damian Penny: Sometimes the media can be too balanced — Deborah Lipstadt was scheduled to appear on C-SPAN to discuss her new book... |
Charles Johnson: Their idea of "balance" was to give the cretinous Holocaust denier David Irving equal time. |
Still Pro Bono LAT — Permalink Bono has taken himself out of the race. The U2 star we endorsed to lead the World Bank (and whose real name is Paul Hewson) seemed to say "Thanks, but no thanks" on Friday, when he issued a statement endorsing Colin L. Powell for the job. | |
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Sarah Wildman: As recently as Tuesday the Los Angeles Times was recommending Bono for the job, suggesting that at the least "the United... |
Vanderleun: Update: As of post time, Bono and the Los Angeles Times, were in rehab and unavailable for comment. |
From Rivals to Running Mates to Rivals By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, March 15 - John Kerry and John Edwards, rivals turned running mates in the last presidential campaign, have become rivals once again, assembling competing political networks, jostling for attention and staking out ideological turf in preparation for a potential rematch in 2008. | |
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James Joyner: From Rivals to Running Mates to Rivals (NYT rss) [snipped quote] Such a promise, if made, was unwise indeed. Yuval Rubinstein: The Kerry-Edwards Honeymoon is Over — First, let me point out that this article in the NYT is written by Adam Nagourney... |
Taegan Goddard: Now, Sen. John Kerry and former Sen. John Edwards "are jostling for attention and staking out ideological turf in... |
Hefley joins Dems on ethics The Hill — Permalink Rep. Joel Hefley (R-Colo.), the former chairman of the House ethics committee, said yesterday that he will co-sponsor a bill to repeal or revise changes that Republican leaders made to the committee's procedure at the start of the 109th Congress. | |
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Charles Kuffner: Will this all have an effect? I don't know, but maybe this will. Taegan Goddard: Republican Breaks With Party Over Ethics — Rep. Joel Hefley (R-CO), "the former chairman of the House ethics committee,... |
Gary Farber: DON'T FAINT: it's possible that one might be able to find an honest Republican in the House. |
Bush nominates Bolton as U.N. ambassador CNN — Permalink WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush on Monday nominated Undersecretary of State John Bolton to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. "The president and I have asked John to do this work because he knows how to get things done. | |
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Robert Tagorda: Remember that the Bush administration also recently tapped John Bolton for United Nations Ambassador. |
Steve Bainbridge: Bush's International Appointments — First, Bush appoints John Bolton to be UN ambassador. |
Bush taps Wolfowitz for World Bank president By / Reuters — Permalink WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush has tapped Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, a lightning rod for controversy as one of the main advocates for the Iraq war, as his choice for World Bank president. | |
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Glenn Reynolds: NOT AFRAID OF CONTROVERSY, ARE THEY? [snipped quote] It's almost as if they're trying to smoke people out. UPDATE: It's working! |
KJL: W NOMINATES WOLFOWITZ to head World Bank. (Oh the fits that are coming from the Left!) |
Bush Q&A session on Social Security Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — Permalink President Bush sat down in the Oval Office yesterday to talk about his plans for Social Security with Post-Gazette national writer Maeve Reston and reporters from five other regional media organizations. | |
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Dan Froomkin: The Interview The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has some excerpts from Bush's roundtable interview yesterday. |
Judd @ThinkProgress: Here is President Bush in an interview with six reporters in the Oval Office today: "Q: So you would rule out add-on accounts? |
Iraq Qaeda Wing Says Italian Troops Still Targets Reuters — Permalink DUBAI (Reuters) - Iraq's al Qaeda wing said on Wednesday Italian troops "humbled" by insurgent attacks would still be targeted despite Rome's plans to start pulling out from Iraq in September, according to an Internet statement. | |
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Lorie Byrd: Although Italy plans to withdraw troops from Iraq in September, al Queda has vowed to continue to target them and sees the withdrawal as a victory. |
Charles Johnson: Al Qaeda: "Jihad Has Started to Bear Fruit" — Iraq Qaeda Wing Says Italian Troops Still Targets. (Hat tip: Right Wing Conspirator.) |
Saving the Marriage: Conservatism and Libertarianism By / TCS — Permalink A few years ago, I wrote an article discussing the ways in which libertarians and conservatives have common cause on a number of policy issues — and how the Blogosphere can work to bring libertarians and conservatives closer together. | |
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Steve Bainbridge: Libertarians and Conservatives — Pejman Yousefzadeh offers up a thoughtful TCS column on why the marriage should be saved. |
Pejman Yousefzadeh: MY TECH CENTRAL STATION COLUMN IS UP — In which I play marriage counselor. |
Bush's Social Security road show one part of a careful strategy By / Knight Ridder — Permalink WASHINGTON - Weeks before President Bush declared his intention to restructure Social Security, he and his aides mapped out a strategy to sell their proposal with a public relations blitz that has all the earmarks of a presidential campaign. | |
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Dan Froomkin: Bubble Watch Ron Hutcheson, writing for Knight Ridder Newspapers, has another anecdote about Bush's carefully staged and screened Social Security roadshow. |
Barbara O'Brien: The significant developments are that Bush intends to resume the Bamboozlepalooza Road Show later this week, and... |
Fraud Verdict Is Ominous for Toppled CEOs LAT — Permalink NEW YORK — The conviction Tuesday of former WorldCom Inc. chief Bernard J. Ebbers for orchestrating an $11-billion accounting fraud could have deep repercussions for other disgraced executives who claim they were unaware of financial scams taking root beneath them. | |
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Howard Kurtz: Now that WorldCom's Bernard Ebbers has been convicted in the biggest corporate fraud ever (here's the NYT, LAT and USA... |
Orrin Judd: RESTORING CONFIDENCE: Fraud Verdict Is Ominous for Toppled CEOs: Ex-WorldCom chief Ebbers is convicted of a huge accounting scam, though he professed ignorance. |
At least 180,000 dead in Darfur: UN humanitarian chief tells AFP AFP — Permalink More than 180,000 people have died in Sudan's conflict stricken Darfur region over the past 18 months, UN humanitarian affairs chief Jan Egeland said. The growing toll was announced as the United Nations struggles to find ways to end the violence in the western Sudanese region where almost two million people have been displaced. | |
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Oliver @LiquidList: Many seemed surprised when UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland recently updated the estimated death toll in Darfur upwards from 70,000 to 180,000. |
Steve Dillard: The Unknown Death Toll: The latest from the CFD: "Many seemed surprised when UN Under-Secretary-General for... |
Faculty Group Rebukes Harvard President With Vote By / WaPo — Permalink CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 15 — Harvard University's faculty of arts and sciences delivered a strong and unprecedented blow to the school's president, Lawrence H. Summers, on Tuesday, endorsing a motion proclaiming a "lack of confidence" in his leadership and... | |
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Noam Scheiber: LARRY SUMMERS'S GOTV PROBLEM: It looks like Lawrence Summers has lost a confidence vote among Harvard's faculty of arts and sciences. |
Dr. Steven Taylor: Harvard's College of Arts and Sciences Slaps Summers Hard — Via WaPo: Faculty Group Rebukes Harvard President With Vote... |
Summers gets vote of no confidence Boston Globe — Permalink CAMBRIDGE — Members of Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences passed a vote of no confidence yesterday in Lawrence H. Summers, dealing a stunning rebuke to the president of one of the world's top universities. | |
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Dr. Steven Taylor: More on Summers — The has more details about the vote: Summers gets vote of no confidence. Hugh Hewitt: Finally, all four big papers gave extensive coverage to the Harvard faculty's "no confidence" vote in President Lawrence Summers. |
Jeremy Reff: Summers: But the vote is still depressing (as is the misreporting of Summers' statement by the Beeb and other news sources). Greg Ransom: HARVARD FACULTY votes no confidence in President Larry Summers: "resolutions like that adopted last night are unheard... |
Felonious Funk By / TCS — Permalink Last week, Doug Kern wrote about efforts to restore voting rights to felons. Kern made a good case that what a lot of these efforts are really about is making felonies look a lot more like misdemeanors, by reducing the penalties, and the social stigma, involved: | |
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James Joyner: There Should be a Law Against All these Felonies — Glenn Reynolds has an interesting piece at TCS today arguing that... |
Glenn Reynolds: FELONIOUS FUNK: My TechCentralStation Column is up. |
Gov. Faces Widening Network of Opposition By / LAT — Permalink SACRAMENTO — Inspired by what began as an isolated protest by California nurses, opponents of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are working in a loose but widening network to thwart his policy proposals. Firefighters and nurses are protesting outside his fundraising events. | |
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AaronBurrFan @BOPNews: What I'm Reading Today — Beating Arnie (LA Times) Rox Populi Buyer's Remorse on Bush at Prolix and I Should Have Kept... |
Taegan Goddard: Schwarzenegger Foes Organize Efforts — Opponents of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) [snipped quote] the Los Angeles Times reports. |
Investors for Bush By / Opinion Journal — Permalink President Bush is in the middle of a vigorous campaign for Social Security reform. New national polls suggest support for his reform plan to be slipping. While my polls have revealed solid majority support among voters under 50 years of age, intensity levels are far greater among voters who oppose Mr. Bush's plan, especially those over 50. | |
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Steve Bainbridge: The Politics of the Ownership Society — In a column on the politics of Social Security reform, John Zogby points out... Hindrocket: Polls appear to show President Bush's Social Security reform proposal sinking like a stone, so I was a little surprised... Barbara O'Brien: John Zogby has an article in today's Opinion Journal claiming that the GOP can still win on the Social Security issue. |
James Joyner: Social Security Strategery — Pollster John Zogby, a Democrat, argues that President Bush's plan to reform Social... Avedon Carol: Stuff to check out — Now John Zogby is out shilling for cat-food accounts. Shannon Love: Independent Investors — Over at the WSJ Opinion Journal, John Zogby writes that the emerging "investor class," i.e.,... |
| Also: Orrin Judd, Steve Antler, PoliPundit | |
Faculty of Arts and Sciences votes, 218-185-18, to express lack of confidence in Summers Harvard Crimson — Permalink In a sharp and unexpected rebuke of University President Lawrence H. Summers, members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) voted yesterday that they lack confidence in his leadership. | |
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Jeremy Reff: Roundup — This has to be brief, so just a few quick hits: Susan Suleiman does academia in general a disservice when she... |
The Big Trunk: Click here for the Harvard Crimson report, and here for the AP report. |
WorldCom case may be omen for Lay Houston Chronicle — Permalink Ken Lay and Bernard Ebbers have a lot in common. The former Enron chairman and WorldCom CEO both came from humble beginnings, helped start companies that grew into international behemoths, and both, when facing multiple criminal felony charges in connection with their companies' downfalls, said they just didn't know what was happening around them. | |
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Charles Kuffner: Bernie and Kenny Boy — Well, now that the vaunted honest idiot defense has failed and Bernie Ebbers faces a stretch in... |
Jeralyn Merritt: The Difference Between Ebbers and Lay — You would think Ken Lay's lawyers would be shaking in their Texas boots after yesterday's conviction of Worldcom's Bernard Ebbers. |
Greenspan Defends His Support of Tax Cuts By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, March 15 - Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, defended himself on Tuesday against Democratic lawmakers who say he contributed to soaring budget deficits by endorsing President Bush's tax cuts in 2001. | |
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Matthew Yglesias: Alan Greenspan, no longer getting the kid gloves treatment from Democrats, found himself on the defensive yesterday about his deficit double-talk. |
Tbogg: That's what Judith Miller is for. Shorter Alan Greenspan: But all the kids were doing it. Shorter Virgin Ben Mob rule rules! |
It's time to end judicial review By / Townhall.com — Permalink Perhaps judicial review wasn't such a great idea after all. In Marbury v. Madison (1803), Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall assumed the power of judicial review over acts of the legislature. | |
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S.Z.: Ben Shapiro First year law student tells us yet again what's wrong with the judicial system. This time it's judicial review. |
Tbogg: Shorter Alan Greenspan: But all the kids were doing it. Shorter Virgin Ben Mob rule rules! Shorter Tom Toles: I deserve another Pulitzer |
Federal Tax Code Draws Criticism From Citizens, Experts, Economists WSJ — Permalink With a month to go until Tax Day, Americans are busy gathering paperwork, filling out forms, visiting accountants and calculating how much they owe the government – or, with some luck and elbow grease, how much the government owes them. | |
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PGL: I find even more interesting this discussion between Tyler Cowen and Max Sawicky. Tyler suggests a gradual freeze. Max B. Sawicky: SOCIAL INSURANCE OR BARBARISM That's my unfair and unbalanced summary of my online debate with Tyler Cowen of Marginal Revolution on the Wall Street Journal website. |
Arnold Kling: Inevitable Tax Increases — In the latest WSJ blogger celebrity death match, Max Sawicki says "Social Security and... Tyler Cowen: New Econoblog on WSJ.com — Max Sawicky and I square off on taxes and spending, here is the link. |
For evangelicals, a bid to 'reclaim America' By / Christian Science Monitor — Permalink FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. - For the Reback daughters, the big attraction was the famous Ten Commandments monument, brought to Florida on tour after being removed from the Alabama judicial building as unconstitutional. The youngsters - dressed in red, white, and blue - clustered proudly around the display. | |
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Steve M.: Today's Christian Science Monitor has an article about a gathering of evangelicals that took place last month at the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale. |
Orrin Judd: RECLAMATION PROJECT: For evangelicals, a bid to 'reclaim America': For the faithful who gathered in Florida last month,... |
The Fleischer Watch By / Slate — Permalink In his new book, Taking Heat: The President, the Press, and My Years in the White House, Ari Fleischer, the former White House press secretary, lays out various "biases and predilections" of "the liberal press." | |
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Eugene Volokh: Request to Readers Who Have Ari Fleischer's New Book: Slate's Chatterbox apparently has a new feature called "The... |
Garrett M. Graff: Slate has begun a Fleischer Watch, "an ongoing inquiry into dishonest or insane assertions buried inside Ari Fleischer's White House memoir." |
Tests Negative in Pentagon Anthrax Scare By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON - Anthrax tests from two Pentagon mailrooms came back negative Tuesday, a day after initial testing indicated the deadly spores might be present, prompting nearly 900 workers to take antibiotics as a precaution. | |
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Charles Johnson: No Anthrax (This Time) Tests Negative in Pentagon Anthrax Scare. |
Michelle Malkin: Update, 3/16: Tests Negative. *** Previous: My tribute to one of the 2001 anthrax victims, "Little Joe" Curseen. |
Baby at center of life support case dies AP — Permalink HOUSTON, Texas (AP) — A critically ill 5-month-old was taken off life support and died Tuesday, a day after a judge cleared the way for doctors to halt care they believed to be futile. The infant's mother had fought to keep him alive. | |
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Captain Ed: CNN reports that a Texas court allowed doctors to override a mother's wishes and euthanize a severely afflicted... |
K. J. Lopez: "HOUSTON, Texas (AP) — A critically ill 5-month-old was taken off life support and died Tuesday, a day after a judge... |
Senate Agrees Social Security Needs Help By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON - The Senate unanimously agreed Tuesday that strengthening Social Security was "a vital national priority" but split acrimoniously along party lines on what to do about it in the first votes on President Bush 's plans. | |
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Steve Soto: Senator Bill Nelson of Florida offered an amendment that said quite simply: [snipped quote] Harry Reid was able to get... |
Jo Fish: Greenhack Speaks — If there were one DC hack with less credibilty than the overtly partisan Alan Greenspan to talk... |
Harvard passes no confidence vote in Summers AP — Permalink CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences passed a no-confidence vote in President Lawrence Summers on Tuesday, the latest setback for the embattled university leader who has come under fire for his managerial style and comments on women in science. | |
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Jeremy Reff: Now, Larry is still wrong, for many reasons (attitudes towards child raising, social and biological predispositions for... Jan Haugland: Harvard faculty wants to get rid of Summers — Harvard passes no confidence vote in Summers: Harvard's Faculty of Arts... James Joyner: The Boston Herald elaborates, "The FAS is one of 10 faculties that comprise the university, and Summers reports to the... |
Dr. Steven Taylor: Via the Boston Herald we get this run-down: Harvard passes no confidence vote in Summers "Summers has now met three... Pejman Yousefzadeh: POLITICAL CORRECTNESS NOW WELCOME AT CAMBRIDGE — This is to Harvard's everlasting discredit. Ann Althouse: Now that Harvard president Larry Summers has suffered his vote of no confidence, will anyone ever be willing to suggest... |
Skepticism of Bush's Social Security Plan Is Growing By / WaPo — Permalink Three months after President Bush launched his drive to restructure Social Security by creating private investment accounts, public support for his program remains weak, with only 35 percent of Americans now saying they approve of his handling of the issue, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. | |
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Tim Lee: Fuzzy Math — I was annoyed by this cynical hatchet job on the polling of Social Security reform in the Washington Post. Jonathan Chait: Today the Washington Post publishes an analysis of its poll showing support for Bush on Social Security is falling yet again. Barbara O'Brien: Support for Bush's "plan" continues to erode. This tells me that some of these "investors" are smart enough to recognize a scam when they see it. |
Jon Henke: SS Reform is Dead; Long Live SS Reform — To the delight of the Opposition Party—and bloggers throughout the Left... Steve Soto: First, Jonathan Weisman in a Page One in today's Post runs a Day Two story on yesterday's release of the latest ABC... Dr. Steven Taylor: Musings on SS Reform — I am not at all surprised by the sentiments expressed in this WaPo piece: Skepticism of Bush's Social Security Plan Is Growing. |
| Also: Matthew Yglesias, C. D. Harris, Yuval Rubinstein, Tully @Centerfield, Rich Lowry | |
Summers Faces Possible No-Confidence Vote AP — Permalink CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Embattled Harvard President Lawrence Summers braced for another contentious faculty meeting Tuesday, with debate planned on two motions — one a vote of no-confidence, the other a milder rebuke for his management style and comments about women in science. | |
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Steve @BeggingToDiffer: HARVARD: THE ORAL ROBERTS UNIVERSITY OF THE NORTH — The Harvard faculty shot themselves in the foot yesterday by... Glenn Reynolds: CONSERVATIVES CHORTLE as the Harvard Arts & Sciences faculty votes no confidence in Larry Summers. |
Joe Gandelman: PC Hell At Harvard — Watching quick breaking events unfold at Harvard where President Lawrence Summers is being... Jeff Goldstein: The Passion of the Summers ...continues. **** update: James Joyner has more. |
This Was Not Looting By / Slate — Permalink Once again, a major story gets top billing in a mainstream paper—and is printed upside down. "Looting at Weapons Plants Was Systematic, Iraqi Says." This was how the New York Times led its front page on Sunday. | |
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Charles Johnson: Hitchens: This Was Not Looting — Here's Christopher Hitchens on the virtually ignored but utterly astounding New York... Vanderleun: Yes, says The New York Times AS DETAILED BY CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS AT SLATE IN: This Was Not Looting - How did Saddam's best weapons plants get plundered? Tim Dunlop: The second one is penned by Hitchens himself (sent in by Jack Strocchi) and deals with Saddam's WMDs or lack thereof. |
Harry @HarrysPlace: Not interested? Ok, move along now. Still here? Ok, well, Christopher Hitchens has some thoughts on the above story. Andrew Sullivan: THE WAR, AGAIN: Hitch has what I think is an important piece in Slate. Moe Freedman: Looting? by Moe Freedman Chris Hitchens says the NY Times has to get its story straight, were there WMD in Iraq? and can... |
| Also: James Joyner, Cori Dauber, JoelL @SouthernAppeal, Jonah Goldberg | |
To Trump Bush on Taxes By / WaPo — Permalink A presidential advisory panel has quietly begun work on the critically important issue of tax reform. It does so against a political backdrop that makes it appear increasingly likely that the president's twin domestic goals of reforming Social Security and the tax system will merge by the summer. | |
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Ezra Klein: John Podesta's been hitting the op-ed pages burying Bush and selling progrssive tax reform. Check him out. Matthew Yglesias: A lot of readers may have seen John Podesta's op-ed in today's Washington Post hinting that the Center for American Progress has devised such a plan. Avedon Carol: John Podesta had an op-ed in the WP offering a suggestion of an alternative plan to the GOP on SS and the tax code. |
Jon Henke: Which may explain why tax reform —which had taken a backseat to Social Security reform — is back... "A... EDM Staff: CAP Tax Reform Plan Can Win Consensus — Today's Washington Post features an op-ed article by John Podesta, president of... |
Fed chief: Expect Social Security cuts By / CNN — Permalink NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress that the mounting financial pressure of a wave of retiring baby boomers is so great that cuts in future government retirement benefits are all but inevitable. | |
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James Joyner: Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan testified yesterday that cuts in Social Security benefits for the baby boomers are all but inevitable owing to the sheer mathematics involved. Tyler Cowen: Here is one short bit from Max: [snipped quote] Addendum: Sawicky says impossible, Greenspan says inevitable. |
Yuval Rubinstein: The Greenscam Revs Up — Hmm...is it any coincidence that, right when support for Social Security privatization appears... |
Italy 'to pull troops from Iraq' BBC — Permalink Italy is to begin withdrawing its troops from Iraq in September 2005, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said. He told Rai state television the pullout would take place "in agreement with our allies". Italy has 3,000 troops in Iraq - the fourth largest foreign contingent. | |
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Charles Johnson: This is sure to provoke cries of joy (quickly suppressed and denied) at Daily Kos: Italy 'to pull troops from Iraq'. Steve Soto: Italians Decide To Leave Iraq Starting In September — Well, here's your fallout from the American shooting of Italian... Oliver Willis: Italy 'to pull troops from Iraq' "Italy is to begin withdrawing its troops from Iraq in September 2005, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said. |
Joe Gandelman: Italy Announces It'll Withdraw Troops From Iraq — It sure didn't take long for Italian policy to change after domestic... Ace: "The bitch set me up": Italy to Withdraw Troops From Iraq 3000 troops, the fourth-largest contingent, to begin departing in September. |
Correction: Some Of Our Facts Were Wrong; Our Point Was Right By / Front Page Magazine — Permalink You have to admire the left, or at least its ability to conduct political warfare. We have mounted a campaign for academic freedom based on hundreds of testimonies from liberal as well as conservative students in more than 30 states and at colleges from coast... | |
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Jeffrey Dubner: There are, shall we say, certain problems with that 2-year-old accusation, prompting an aggressive correction yesterday from Horowitz. Judd @ThinkProgress: Here's a sample: "Until I hear from the student I have no comment on the matter of the grade but it is conceivable to... |
Jesse Taylor: David Horowitz may have gotten almost every single fact wrong when accusing a school of academic bias, but you can't doubt his oblique references to being right about other cases. Glenn Reynolds: DAVID HOROWITZ RESPONDS to charges of urban mythology. |
A Requiem for Reform By / NYT — Permalink At this point there's no better than a one-in-four chance that some form of Social Security reform will be passed this year. There's no sign that Republicans will bend on their insistence on private accounts or Democrats on their opposition. | |
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Jon Henke: Still, with polls going against him, the Democrats united against, and even David Brooks losing hope, it may be end-game for Personal Accounts. Jonathan Chait: Meanwhile, in the New York Times, David Brooks writes a "A Requiem for Reform," in which he blames GOP miscalculation,... Sam Rosenfeld: Ezra Klein makes a sharp catch and calls out David Brooks for his casual dismissal of the very notion that "it is possible to fix [Social Security] without benefit cuts." |
Matthew Yglesias: On top of what's already been said about today's David Brooks column it's worth noting that even though he's now ready... Ramesh Ponnuru: David Brooks comes close to saying the fight is over. Andrew Ferguson seconds the proposition. Noam Scheiber: DAVID BROOKS HAS WRITTEN A COLUMN: So David Brooks has a fairly typical column today—appearing to criticize Republicans... |
| Also: Jeff Alworth, Ezra Klein, Barbara O'Brien, Steve Soto, Tarek @LiquidList, Jesse Taylor, Yuval Rubinstein, The Farmer | |
Winning Numbers? NRO — Permalink What the Social Security numbers say. "Barely a third of the public approves of the way President Bush is dealing with Social Security," writes the Washington Post's Richard Morin, "and a majority says the more they hear about Bush's plan to reform the giant retirement system, the less they like it, according to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll." | |
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Betsy Newmark: Byron York has a good column analyzing or pulling together an analysis of why the Post poll on Social Security was poorly done. Orrin Judd: WHICH 60% WANT THEY GET: Winning Numbers? : What the Social Security numbers say. |
Tully @Centerfield: Byron York's article on the recent Washington Post polls has some interesting insights. |
Hyde ready to call it a career? Chicago Sun Times — Permalink In a few weeks, Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), the chairman of the House International Relations Committee who as Judiciary Committee chief wielded the gavel during President Clinton's impeachment, will announce that he will not seek another term. | |
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Steve Clemons: This from a Chicago Sun-Times piece today: Hyde is making United Nations reform and accountability a priority this year... Taegan Goddard: Hyde Will Retire — "In a few weeks, Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL), the chairman of the House International Relations Committee... Orrin Judd: A GOOD STEWARD: Hyde ready to call it a career? |
Fng: The Chicago Sun tells me today that: [snipped quote] I think this is good news for Dems in the House simply because such an ascerbic partisan will be gone. James Joyner: He was first elected in 1974. Hyde ready to call it a career? [snipped quote] Thirty years is enough, methinks. ArchPundit: Hyde Out? Sweet says so and she has pretty good sources so I'll take that as a tenative yes. |
GOP sees momentum in ending judicial filibusters By / Boston Globe — Permalink WASHINGTON — Republicans believe they have enough votes to end the filibustering of judicial nominees, a landmark change in Senate rules that would clear the way for President Bush to get conservative judges confirmed but could draw a forceful reaction from... | |
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Dr. Steven Taylor: Via the Boston Globe: GOP sees momentum in ending judicial filibusters "Republicans believe they have enough votes to... Captain Ed: It's Time For Action, Senator McConnell — Hugh Hewitt links to a Boston Globe article on the debate over filibustering... |
Hugh Hewitt: But if the Boston Globe is correct this morning in its report "GOP sees momentum in ending judicial filibusters,"... AaronBurrFan @BOPNews: Well, well, Mr. Miranda — I'm reading the Republicans have the votes to end the filibuster. |
Reid, Frist clash over judges AP — Permalink WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats served notice Tuesday that they will slow or stop most Senate business if Republicans unilaterally change the rules to assure confirmation of President Bush's controversial court appointments. | |
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Captain Ed: Not only did Reid overreact to the ongoing debate over the proposed rule change for judicial nominations by threatening... |
Taegan Goddard: A Partisan Cold War — Democrats served notice today [snipped quote] the AP reports. Link | Related News |
Party On! By / Opinion Journal — Permalink Since the 2008 campaign season seems to be off to an early start, Americans should think about getting a better handle on one of the other political parties—specifically that smaller one whose candidate finished with 0.3% of the vote in the 2004 Election. | |
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Radley Balko: Obviously Someone Unfamiliar with the GWB Libertymeter — Want to read an indictment of libertarianism even more ridiculous than this morning's dumb Wall Street Journal op-ed? Judith Weiss: (And check out his all-blogger band the Wifebeaters too.) PS Julia Gorin is also on the bill. Glenn Reynolds: JULIA GORIN ASKS IF LIBERTARIANS HAVE MORE FUN: Some of us do! |
Pejman Yousefzadeh: IS IT JUST ME? Or do others believe that libertarianism deserves a more serious treatment than this? Matt Welch: Mommy, What's a Libertarian? The Wall Street Journal performs some political anthropology "on the fringe." (Link via Glenn Reynolds). |
Democrats Threaten to Stop Senate Business if GOP Changes Rules on Judge Confirmations By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats served notice Tuesday that they will slow or stop most Senate business if Republicans unilaterally change the rules to assure confirmation of President Bush's controversial court appointments. | |
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Hugh Hewitt: Reid threatened to shut down the Senate today, and Senator Frist immediately and appropriately rebuked Reid for his blackmailing of the American people. |
Orrin Judd: Democrats Threaten to Stop Senate Business if GOP Changes Rules on Judge Confirmations (David Espo, 3/15/05, The Associated Press) [snipped quote] Make them do it. |
Million Lebanese Stage Massive Retort to Terrorists By / New York Sun — Permalink BEIRUT - Flags fluttering, horns honking, and fingers flashing V for victory, Lebanon's opposition converged on downtown Beirut yesterday in the biggest democratic protest in the history of the modern Middle East. | |
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Scott Sala: Claudia Rosett writes an article in today's New York Sun describing this latest development. Pejman Yousefzadeh: NO BANDWAGONING NECESSARY — Claudia Rosett does not have to bandwagon. |
Larry Kudlow: She is reporting for the New York Sun's front page. It's great stuff, a terrific read. |
Educators Differ on Why Boys Lag in Reading By / WaPo — Permalink Jerilynn Hoffman couldn't get her young son to read much until she found a book that wasn't her cup of tea but definitely was his: "The Day My Butt Went Psycho." | |
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Ann Althouse: What boys like to read. Here's an article in The Washington Post about teaching boys and girls to read. (Via Memeorandum.) James Joyner: At least, that's how I read it: Educators Differ on Why Boys Lag in Reading [snipped quote] That kind of bigoted, "boys... |
Betsy Newmark: The Washington Post takes on the issue of the differences in reading between boys and girls. Rich Lowry: "THE DAY MY BUTT WENT PSYCHO" — Fascinating Washington Post article on why boys have so much trouble learning to read compared to girls. |
C-SPAN's Balance of the Absurd By / WaPo — Permalink You will not be seeing Deborah Lipstadt on C-SPAN. The Holocaust scholar at Emory University has a new book out ("History on Trial"), and an upcoming lecture of hers at Harvard was scheduled to be televised on the public affairs cable outlet. | |
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Atrios: Balance — I'm so glad we're in a world where C-Span feels the need to balance a writer who wrote a book about the lies of a holocaust denier... with the holocaust denier. |
Norm Geras: I was reminded of it by this story. Of course, what the truth is is sometimes difficult to ascertain. But sometimes it isn't. |
Bioethics Panel Illustrates Scientific Ethics' Complexity By / TCS — Permalink Recently, I wrote a column here calling on Dr. Rajendra Pachauri to resign as Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change because he was using his position to push a political agenda. | |
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Iain Murray: Resigned to it — I have an article up on Tech Central Station today where I call on Leon Kass to resign as Chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics. |
Glenn Reynolds: IAIN MURRAY CALLS FOR LEON KASS'S RESIGNATION: [snipped quote] You can read an earlier column of mine on Kass, here. |
Ford felt dissed by Reagan and Bush US News — Permalink One of the Reagan era's biggest boasts—that it reversed the 1970s "decade of neglect" in the military—really irked former President Ford , who blamed congressional Democrats and Jimmy Carter for slashing the Pentagon budget. | |
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James Joyner: Mehlman and Obama Not Mortal Enemies — Washington Whispers reveals the shocking news that at least one Democrat and one Republican in Washington don't hate one another. |
Taegan Goddard: Breaking Barriers — "Just when you thought bipartisanship was dead, along comes rookie Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and... |
How Electronics Are Penetrating North Korea's Isolation By / NYT — Permalink SEOUL, South Korea - Halfway through a video from North Korea, the camera pans on a propaganda portrait of Kim Jong Il, North Korea's leader, magnificent in his general's dress uniform with gold epaulets. Scribbled in black ink across his smooth face is a demand for "freedom and democracy." | |
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Damian Penny: Piercing the curtain — Cell phones and VCRs are slowly eroding the wall between North Koreans and the modern world: The... Pejman Yousefzadeh: DEMOCRACY VIA MODERN MEANS — This article discusses how modern technology is being used to bring democracy to North Korea. |
McQ: Inexorable infiltration and eventual death — North Korea, that closed Stalinist bastion of a nation, is fighting a... Cori Dauber: But let that population get even a glimpse of life on the outside, and the regime's death warrent has been signed. |
Bush Seeks to Ban Some Nations From All Nuclear Technology By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, March 14 - Behind President Bush's recent shift in dealing with Iran's nuclear program lies a less visible goal: to rewrite, in effect, the main treaty governing the spread of nuclear technology, without actually renegotiating it. | |
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Art @Centerfield: A piece in the New York Times today discussed how Bush wants to subvert the negotiation process for rewriting the... Orrin Judd: BROKEN WINDOW NUCLEAR POLICING: Reshaping Nuclear Pact: Bush Seeks to Close Loopholes: One goal behind President Bush's... |
Dan Froomkin: Treaty Watch David E. Sanger writes in the New York Times: "Behind President Bush's recent shift in dealing with Iran's... |
Iran clerics blasted by academic By / BBC — Permalink Iran's clerical leaders have come under attack from one of the country's most influential conservative academics. Ali Mottahari, a Tehran University philosophy teacher, has accused the clerics of creating a schism between religion and the people. | |
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Pejman Yousefzadeh: SCHISM — It would appear that even hardline academics (who incidentally, were children of hardline revolutionary... |
Orrin Judd: SISTANI 1, KHOMENI 0: Iran clerics blasted by academic (Sadeq Saba, 3/15/05, BBC News) [snipped quote] Khomenism isn't Shi'ism. |
D.C. Investigates Anthrax in Mail Fox News — Permalink WASHINGTON — The mayor of the nation's capital offered all workers at a local postal facility a three-day course of antibiotics Tuesday after it was determined that the post office had been the source of anthrax-tainted mail sent to two military mail facilities in Virginia a day earlier. | |
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Michelle Malkin: But it's all a reminder that the original anthrax attacks, which killed five and affected dozens of other largely forgotten victims, remain unsolved. |
Ace: Anthrax Scare — Not like I'm breaking news. Two points: Will the FBI finally admit the 2001 anthrax attacks were most likely due to foreign Islamic terrorists? |
Ex-WorldCom CEO Ebbers guilty By / CNN — Permalink NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Bernard Ebbers, the former CEO of WorldCom, was found guilty Tuesday for his role in the mammoth accounting scandal that resulted in the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. | |
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James Joyner: Ebbers found guilty (CNN/Money) [snipped quote] I used to drive past the WorldCom/MCI building every day on my way to work. |
Steve Bainbridge: Bernie Ebbers convicted — The jury has convicted former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers on all 9 counts of conspiracy and securities fraud. |
WorldCom's Ebbers Convicted of All Counts By / AP — Permalink NEW YORK (AP) - Bernard Ebbers, who built WorldCom from a humble Mississippi long-distance concern into a telecommunications titan, was convicted Tuesday of engineering the colossal accounting fraud that sank the company. | |
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Jeralyn Merritt: Bernie Ebbers Convicted on All Counts — The verdict is in on Bernie Ebbers in the WorldCom trial. Guilty on all counts. |
Orrin Judd: AND JUSTICE FOR ALL: WorldCom's Ebbers convicted of all counts (Associated Press, March 15, 2005) [snipped quote] Doesn't... |