Top Items:
New York Times:
Justice Deputy Resisted Parts of Spy Program — WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 - The top deputy to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft refused two years ago to approve important parts of the secret program that allows domestic eavesdropping without warrants, prompting two leading White House aides …
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Steve Benen / The Washington Monthly:
RESISTANCE AT JUSTICE ON WARRANTLESS SEARCHES....After the Bush administration's warrantless-search program came to light, one of the early talking points used to defend the program's legality emphasized Justice Department support. As Condoleezza Rice explained on Meet the Press, the initiative …
Discussion:
Oliver Willis
Byron Calame / New York Times:
Behind the Eavesdropping Story, a Loud Silence — THE New York Times's explanation of its decision to report, after what it said was a one-year delay, that the National Security Agency is eavesdropping domestically without court-approved warrants was woefully inadequate.
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Michelle Malkin:
HOW THE NYTIMES IS RINGING IN 2006 — Yes, it's New Year's Eve. And since there's no rest for the NYTimes, I'm not taking it easy tonight either. — You see, NYTimes' reporter James Risen has been a busy bee over the holidays. The co-author of the infamous Chicken Little opus exposing …
Reuters:
Palestinian gunmen blow up U.N. club in Gaza City — GAZA (Reuters) - Masked gunmen stormed into a club for United Nations workers in Gaza City on Sunday and blew up the drinking hall in a new sign of spiralling unrest ahead of a Palestinian election. — It was the first such attack in Gaza …
Michelle Malkin:
2005 IN REVIEW: THE WAR ON BLOGS — To the dismay of the MSM, the blogosphere didn't go away in 2005. Here are some of the more memorable moments in the clash of the bloggers vs. MSM: — 10. Commentator Bill Press's condemnation of bloggers as people "with no credentials, no sources, no rules, no editors and no accountability."
Juan / Informed Comment:
Ten Amazing Predictions for 2006 — 1. Al-Qaeda's Ayman al-Zawahiri, whom the Bush administration has failed to capture after all this time, and who was probably responsible for the July 7 bombings in the London subway and the bombings in the Sinai in Egypt, will strike at US allies again in 2006.
Discussion:
Main and Central
Washington Times:
Military death toll in Iraq 844 in 2005 — The U.S. military death toll in Iraq in 2005 almost matched that of 2004. — The New York Times reported at least 844 service members were killed in 2005, while the total for the previous year was 848. The total since the invasion began …
Duncan Currie / Weekly Standard:
2005: A Tipping Point? — IN MANY WAYS, the year 2005 ends as it began: with millions of Iraqis defying the terrorists to cast ballots; with President Bush hailing the election as a milestone; with nit-pickers fretting about the sulky Sunnis; with the White House coming under fire …
Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Rendition Started Under Clinton — After months of debate about the Bush administration's supposed support of torture through the "rendition" policy of sending captured terrorists to their nations of origin for questioning, it turns out that the policy did not start with the Bush administration after all.
Patterico / Patterico's Pontifications:
Patterico's Los Angeles Dog Trainer Year in Review 2005 — It is time for this blog's third annual review of the performance of the Los Angeles Times, which long-time Patterico readers know as the Los Angeles Dog Trainer. The first annual review was posted here.
Cory Doctorow / Boing Boing:
Coldplay's new CD has rules: No MP3s, no DVD players, no car stereos — Coldplay's new CD comes with an insert that discloses all the rules enforced by the DRM they included on the disc. Of course, these rules are only visible after you've paid for the CD and brought it home …
Discussion:
Unqualified Offerings
Mark Bixler / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Baby Noor arrives in Atlanta — Baby Noor, the little Iraqi girl born with a severe spinal cord defect , arrived in Atlanta Saturday afternoon and moved a big step toward the medical care she needs to survive. — The baby's grandmother cradled Noor in her arms as she stepped off an escalator …
Kelli Kennedy / Associated Press:
Coming Home, 'Consequences' Await Teen — The mother of a 16-year-old prep school student who journeyed to Iraq on a journalistic whim hasn't decided how her son will be punished. She's just relieved he's on his way home. Farris Hassan left Baghdad Friday to begin traveling home …
Dave Johnson / Seeing the Forest:
Russian Money to So-Called "Conservatives?" — When I put up this post asking if maybe the "conservative movement" Republicans were really dupes of the Russians or the Chinese, I sure didn't expect to get my answer a few hours later. — From The DeLay-Abramoff Money Trail,
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, IntoxiNation-News …, MyDD, Middle Earth Journal and Alternate Brain
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