Top Items:
Mark Townsend / Observer:
Bush plea for cash to rebuild Iraq raises $600 — An extraordinary appeal to Americans from the Bush administration for money to help pay for the reconstruction of Iraq has raised only $600 (£337), The Observer has learnt. Yet since the appeal was launched earlier this month …
RELATED ITEM:
If Any / Gay Patriot:
If Iraq is like Vietnam, how come the rallies keep getting smaller? — While anti-war activists hoped their rally yesterday would be the "largest peace rally in the nation's capital since the Vietnam War," it doesn't seem they reached their goal. In order to make the rally seem larger than it was …
Discussion:
Gateway Pundit, Conservative Thinking, Secular Blasphemy, Instapundit.com and Daily Pundit
RELATED ITEMS:
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
If I Were Defending Bill Frist — If I had the grim challenge of explaining Bill Frist's sale of stock, the ownership of which he was ostensibly unaware, I might start with S.1002, a bipartisan bill introduced by Grassley and Baucus, the ranking members of the Senate Finance Committee, on May 11, 2005.
Discussion:
PoliBlog
RELATED ITEMS:
Washington Post:
Rita Lands Weakened Punch — Catastrophe Is Avoided, but Wary Eyes Look to Flooding — LAKE CHARLES, La., Sept. 24 — Hurricane Rita, packing 120-mph winds and torrential rains, bulldozed up the Texas-Louisiana corridor Saturday, leaving scarred countryside and mugged towns in its wake, but apparently causing little loss of life.
RELATED ITEMS:
Petula Dvorak / Washington Post:
Antiwar Fervor Fills the Streets — Demonstration Is Largest in Capital Since U.S. Military Invaded Iraq — Tens of thousands of people packed downtown Washington yesterday and marched past the White House in the largest show of antiwar sentiment in the nation's capital since the conflict in Iraq began.
RELATED ITEM:
Max / MaxSpeak:
DEMO-CRACY — The striking thing about the crowd was the diversity. No single picture could capture it. You had the usual suspects among left groups, but you also had lots of kids, college students, old folks, and families. Saw a guy with "Free Speech" and a picture of Howard Stern on his shirt, and "Freeskiers against Bush."
Discussion:
Pharyngula
RELATED ITEM:
Observer:
Britain to pull troops from Iraq as Blair says 'don't force me out' — · Defence Secretary confident withdrawal will start in May — · Plan follows pressure for exit strategy — Peter Beaumont and Gaby Hinsliff — British troops will start a major withdrawal from Iraq next …
Andrew / www.AndrewSullivan.com:
ALTHOUSE ON THE BEEB: — Picked up by Instapundit and the Corner as more evidence of wretched BBC anti-American bias, I read the piece assailed by Ann Althouse. It's an opinion piece, not news reporting, so obviously a little more lee-way for bias should be allowed.
Discussion:
Biased BBC
RELATED ITEM:
Mr. Snitch / Mister Snitch!:
Best. Complaint. Letter. Ever. — Cutting-edge complaining. Here's why: — 1) It builds on the classic foundation - an agonized resignation that the effort made in complaining will bear no fruit: — 'You can either pursue your professional prerogative, and seek to rectify these difficulties …
Time:
How Many More Mike Browns are out There? — A TIME inquiry finds that at top positions in some vital government agencies, the Bush Administration is putting connections before experience — In Presidential politics, the victor always gets the spoils, and chief among them is the vast warren …
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …
Mark Steyn / Chicago Sun Times:
Politicians not giving us much of a choice — American politics seems to have dwindled down to a choice between a big government party and a big permanently-out-of-government party. The Senate Democrats had two months to cook up a reason to vote against John Roberts and the best California's …
Discussion:
Betsy's Page
Billmon:
Heart of Darkness … I didn't go to the big anti-war demo in Washington today — and not just because I have the normal responsibilities of a middle-aged parent with a house, a mortgage, a dog and a backyard that badly needs mowing. I could have evaded all of those things.
Discussion:
Informed Comment
RELATED ITEM:
Michael Isikoff / Newsweek:
A Washington Sand Trap — A golf outing trips up a widening circle of power brokers. — Oct. 3, 2005 issue - David Safavian wasn't expecting visitors. A relatively senior White House official—he oversaw federal contracts for the Office of Management and Budget—the 38-year-old Safavian …
Discussion:
The Left Coaster
Washington Post:
Bush Faces Pressure to Diversify Supreme Court — Hispanic Group Says Votes Are at Stake as Some Conservatives Urge a Nomination on Philosophy Only — As John G. Roberts Jr. sails toward almost certain confirmation as the 17th chief justice of the United States, President Bush faces conflicting pressures …
Evan Kohlmann / The Counterterrorism Blog:
First Signs of Daylight in Battle with Zarqawi in Iraq — Only days after Al-Qaida announced the completion of its latest campaign of violence aimed at avenging alleged "massacres" of Sunni Muslims in Tel Afar by the U.S. and Iraqi government, there are growing indications that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi …
hrw.org:
New Accounts of Torture by U.S. Troops — Soldiers Say Failures by Command Led to Abuse — (New York, September 24, 2005) — U.S. Army troops subjected Iraqi detainees to severe beatings and other torture at a base in central Iraq from 2003 through 2004, often under orders or with the approval …
RELATED ITEM:
Stephen Ohlemacher / Associated Press:
Rita's Victims Wealthier Than Katrina's — WASHINGTON - Hurricane Rita smashed into a region that is wealthier, more mobile and much less densely populated than the one devastated by Hurricane Katrina. — Most of Rita's victims are by no means wealthy. But they are less likely to live in poverty …
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway
Telegraph:
Women bypass sex in favour of 'instant pregnancies' — Women are increasingly seeking inappropriate IVF treatment because they do not have the time or inclination for a sex life and want to "diarise" their busy lives. — Wealthy career women in their 30s and early 40s …
Discussion:
Althouse