Top Items:
New York Times:
Chinese Leader Gives President a Mixed Message — BEIJING, Nov. 20 - In a day of polite but tense encounters, President Hu Jintao of China told President Bush on Sunday that he was willing to move more quickly to ease economic differences with the United States, but he gave no ground on increasing political freedoms.
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Peter Baker / Washington Post:
The China Opening Of 2005: Don't Ask — For Bush in Beijing, It's Hard to Get Out — BEIJING, Nov. 20 — After all the pomp and circumstance, after all the mind-numbing statements in all the mind-numbing meetings, President Bush finally seemed happy. — He slipped into athletic shorts …
Dr. Rusty Shackleford / The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta:
Zarqawi Still Alive, The Left Celebrates — The White House is now saying that it is "highly unlikely" that Abu Musab al Zarqawi died in a Mosul raid Saturday. Earlier Jawa post from Traderrob here. — *Sigh* — Not that killing the al Qaeda in Iraq leader—and the man personally responsible …
Discussion:
Happy Furry Puppy Story …, Confederate Yankee, The Heretik, Daily Kos, MSNBC, Gateway Pundit and The World Wide Rant
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New York Times:
G.M. to Cut 30,000 Jobs and Close 12 Facilities in 3 Years — DETROIT, Nov. 21 - General Motors said it would cut up to 30,000 jobs and close a dozen automobile and parts factories and distribution centers in the next three years in an effort to stem the company's billion-dollar losses.
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Dee-Ann Durbin / Associated Press:
GM to Cut 30,000 Jobs, Close 9 Plants — DETROIT (AP) — General Motors Corp. will eliminate 30,000 jobs and close nine North American assembly, stamping and powertrain plants by 2008 as part of an effort to get production in line with demand and position the world's biggest automaker …
OSM:
Look back, in pajamas — Edited by Glenn Reynolds, Chair, OSM Editorial Advisory Board — A CARNIVAL OF PRE-WAR INTELLIGENCE: WHAT WE KNEW, WHEN WE KNEW IT, AND WHAT WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN GOING INTO THE IRAQ WAR. — On Friday, OSM extended an open-invitation to bloggers everywhere …
Neil A. Lewis / New York Times:
Alito Often Ruled for Religious Expression — WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 - Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. has compiled a brief but unmistakable record, lawyers and analysts say, that makes him a leader in the camp of conservative theorists and judges who believe federal courts have been too quick to limit religious activities in public life.
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William Yardley / New York Times:
After Eminent Domain Win, Project Goes Nowhere — NEW LONDON, Conn. - They have still not moved out. Not Susette Kelo. Not the Derys. Not Byron Athenian or Bill Von Winkle or the others. — Five months after the United States Supreme Court set off a national debate by ruling …
lileks.com:
At Least Ezra Pound was Nuts — I never "got into" Vonnegut, or "dug" his work like my "buds," several of whom pronounced his work as "intense," so I am not particularly bothered to find he applauds suicide bombers, and thinks they experience "an amazing high."
John F. Burns / New York Times:
It's Still a Mystery — Photograph by Christoph Bangert/Polaris, for The New York Times; illustration by Brian Rea — AT a lunch with a senior American commander here last week, the raid that uncovered a secret Interior Ministry torture center in Baghdad prompted a question …
Discussion:
The Heretik
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Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
General Shinseki, Again — Via Glenn, we find ourselves wondering - Is Pejman missing a link? He is, of course, correct in disputing the connection between Shinseki's June 2003 retirement and his controversial Feb 2003 Congressional testimony about troop levels in Iraq.
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Rowan Scarborough / Washington Times:
Military fears critics will hurt morale — Pentagon officials say they are increasingly worried that Washington's political fight over the Iraq war will dampen what has been high morale among troops fighting a tenacious and deadly enemy. — Commanders are telling Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld …
Discussion:
I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY!
Reuters:
Washington Post rebukes Bob Woodward — Programming Note: Bob Woodward discusses the CIA leak probe and his silence, Monday on Larry King Live at 9 p.m. ET — WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The Washington Post's ombudsman rebuked journalist Bob Woodward on Sunday for withholding what he knew …
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Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:
Journalist, Cover Thyself — Here's something you do not see every day: a newspaper reporter interrogating his own boss - on live television yet. — Howard Kurtz, the media writer for The Washington Post, posed tough questions yesterday for nearly eight minutes to Leonard Downie Jr. …
Ellen Knickmeyer / Washington Post:
Under U.S. Design, Iraq's New Army Looks a Good Deal Like the Old One — TAJI, Iraq, Nov. 20 — Clad in the olive-green uniform of old, his heart rising to the sound of the lilting march to which he once went to war for President Saddam Hussein, Sgt. Bashar Fathi, a veteran …
The Australian:
Muslim fanatics terrorise a nation — Islamist murders and threats have transformed the once-tolerant Netherlands into a place of armed bodyguards and fear, writes Anthony Browne — A FILM about gay rights should hardly raise an eyebrow in The Netherlands, which for centuries has prided itself …
CNN:
Powell aide: Torture 'guidance' from VP — Former staff chief says Cheney's 'flexibility' helped lead to abuse — WASHINGTON (CNN) — A former top State Department official said Sunday that Vice President Dick Cheney provided the "philosophical guidance" and "flexibility" that led to the torture of detainees in U.S. facilities.
