Top Items:
James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:
Why Iraq Has No Army — The Bush administration doesn't take the problem seriously—and it never has — W hen Saddam Hussein fell, the Iraqi people gained freedom. What they didn't get was public order. Looting began immediately, and by the time it abated, signs of an insurgency had appeared.
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Los Angeles Times:
U.S. Starts Laying Groundwork for Significant Troop Pullout From Iraq — WASHINGTON — Even as debate over the Iraq war continues to rage, signs are emerging of a convergence of opinion on how the Bush administration might begin to exit the conflict. — In a departure from previous statements …
Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:Bush Administration Reportedly Plans Major Iraq Withdrawals In 2006
Discussion:
Middle Earth Journal
Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Biden, Democrats Ask The Wrong Question — Senator Joe Biden writes an op-ed for today's Washington Post that gets the entire war on terror fundamentally wrong — and demonstrates why the Democrats have entirely failed to provide any leadership on Iraq and the wider war.
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Joseph R. Biden Jr / Washington Post:
Time for An Iraq Timetable — The question most Americans want answered about Iraq is this: When will our troops come home? — We already know the likely answer. In 2006, they will begin to leave in large numbers. By the end of the year, we will have redeployed about 50,000.
Alexandra von Maltzan / All Things Beautiful:The Thanksgiving Gift From Al-Qaeda
Discussion:
The Heretik
Gateway Pundit:Toy Stories
Discussion:
The Y Files, Free Thoughts, A Blog For All, Clarity & Resolve, Sister Toldjah, Balloon Juice and Nickie Goomba
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
In Terror Cases, Administration Sets Own Rules — When Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales announced last week that Jose Padilla would be transferred to the federal justice system from military detention, he said almost nothing about the standards the administration used in deciding whether …
Helen / Dr. Helen:
Vegetarianism — Many people have written to ask me to talk about my vegetarianism when I was younger and why I went back to being a carnivore. Well—here is the story. When I was younger, I thought it wrong to hurt another living thing. I had compassion for flies, ants and anything else that moved.
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Andrew Jacobs / New York Times:
Just Try to Sleep Tight. The Bedbugs Are Back. — They're the scourge of hobo encampments and hot-sheet motels. To impressionable children everywhere, they're a snippet of nursery rhyme, an abstract foe lurking beneath the covers that emerges when mommy shuts the door at night.
Daniel Cooney / Associated Press:
Troops Who Burned Taliban Face Discipline — KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Four U.S. soldiers face disciplinary action for burning the bodies of two Taliban rebels — a videotaped incident that sparked outrage in Afghanistan — but they will not be prosecuted because they their actions were motivated …
Charles Burress / San Francisco Chronicle:
Governor agrees to Williams hearing Convicted killer gets closer to possible clemency — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has decided to hold a clemency hearing Dec. 8 for Stanley Tookie Williams, the condemned killer who has attracted a number of high-profile backers calling for his life to be spared.
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Jeff Jarvis / BuzzMachine:
My content, my readers, my numbers, damnit — Hey, My Yahoo, Google Reader, Pluck, Newsgator Enterprise and other RSS readers: Hand over my numbers. You are taking my RSS feed and caching it to serve more efficiently, which would be fine if only you told me how many times you are doing that.
Kate Zernike / New York Times:
Even Supporters Doubt President as Issues Pile Up — COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 22 - Leesa Martin never considered President Bush a great leader, but she voted for him a year ago because she admired how he handled the terrorist attacks of 2001. — Then came the past summer …
Discussion:
Rantingprofs, The American Street, War and Piece, Bark Bark Woof Woof, NewsBusters.org, Prairie Weather and Dohiyi Mir
Charles Krauthammer / Weekly Standard:
The Truth about Torture — DURING THE LAST FEW WEEKS in Washington the pieties about torture have lain so thick in the air that it has been impossible to have a reasoned discussion. The McCain amendment that would ban "cruel, inhuman, or degrading" treatment of any prisoner by any agent …
New York Times:
Pension Officers Putting Billions Into Hedge Funds — Faced with growing numbers of retirees, pension plans are pouring billions into hedge funds, the secretive and lightly regulated investment partnerships that once managed money only for wealthy investors.
Barb Howe / Lucky White Girl:
Medium rare electronics — Sometimes life is like the movies: just when you think the world is going end, deus ex machina steps in and magically everything is okay. — Today I come rushing home because it's the end of the semester and I have finals coming up and I need to write …
Discussion:
Philobiblon
Associated Press:
Jailed Palestinian Leader Wins Primaries — RAMALLAH, West Bank - Jailed Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouti and other younger activists swept Fatah primaries, signaling a change of generations that could make the corruption-tainted ruling party more attractive to voters …
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Charles Moore / Telegraph:How did we forget that Israel's story is the story of the West?
Discussion:
Power Line
Angus McDowall / Independent:
Iran's President digs in as leadership crisis deepens — A power struggle of titanic proportions has broken out between Iran's newly elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the country's parliament. — Now the President's domestic political agenda is in danger of collapse …
