Top Items:
ABCNEWS:
U.S. Strike Killed Al Qaeda Bomb Maker — Terror Big Also Trained 'Shoe Bomber,' Moussaoui — Jan. 18, 2006 — ABC News has learned that al Qaeda's master bomb maker and chemical weapons expert was one of the men killed in last week's U.S. missile attack in eastern Pakistan.
Discussion:
ThreatsWatch.Org, The Reaction, Captain's Quarters, The Washington Monthly, Confederate Yankee, The Heretik, A Blog For All, Sensible Mom, Gina Cobb, In the Bullpen, The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta, Gina Cobb, The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta, RIGHTWINGSPARKLE, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Sweetness & Light, protein wisdom, Power Line, On The Third Hand, The Strata-Sphere, Sweetness & Light, Free Thoughts and bRight & Early
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Simon Jenkins / Guardian:
The west has picked a fight with Iran that it cannot win — Washington's kneejerk belligerence ignores Tehran's influence and the need for subtle engagement — Never pick a fight you know you cannot win. Or so I was told. Pick an argument if you must, but not a fight.
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Los Angeles Times:
UCLA Alumni Group Is Tracking 'Radical' Faculty — A fledgling alumni group headed by a former campus Republican leader is offering students payments of up to $100 per class to provide information on instructors who are "abusive, one-sided or off-topic" in advocating political ideologies.
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White House:
Press Briefing by Scott McClellan — MR. MCCLELLAN: Good afternoon, everyone. I have one announcement to begin with. The President will host Polish President Kaczynski at the White House on February 9th. President Kaczynski is making his first visit to the White House since he assumed the presidency of Poland on December 23rd.
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Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:
White House Silent on Abramoff Meetings
White House Silent on Abramoff Meetings
Discussion:
reid.senate.gov, WTF Is It Now??, The Heretik, The Reality-Based Community and The All Spin Zone
Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
PART D, AS IN DEBACLE: — So just how badly is President Bush's Medicare prescription drug program, known as "Part D," going? On Tuesday morning, I landed in Nashville, Tennessee, to find this bold headline atop the Tennessean front page: "PHARMACISTS DECRY MEDICARE CHAOS."
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Ceci Connolly / Washington Post:
HHS Works to Fix Drug Plan Woes
HHS Works to Fix Drug Plan Woes
Discussion:
firedoglake, Crooks and Liars, Obsidian Wings, The Carpetbagger Report, Grammar.police, Eschaton, Think Progress and The Sideshow
Associated Press:
Supreme Court Steers Clear of First Abortion Case in 5 Years — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday that a lower court was wrong to strike down New Hampshire abortion restrictions, steering clear of a major ruling on whether such laws place an undue burden on women.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, ACSBlog, Stop The ACLU, The Mahablog, Balloon Juice, Donklephant and Althouse
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Richard Winton / Los Angeles Times:
Former Teen Idol Garrett Charged With Heroin Possession — Seventies teen idol Leif Garrett was charged this morning with possession of heroin after his arrest in the Pershing Square subway station over the weekend. — Garrett was due to appear in Los Angeles County Superior Court later today.
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Democrats Unveil Their Own Plan for Rules on Lobbying — WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 - With a stinging attack on Republican ethics, Congressional Democrats today proposed a lobbying overhaul they said far exceeds new Republican proposals in limiting the influence of monied special interests on Capitol Hill.
Associated Press:
Death row elder needed 2 injections — Last words: 'Hoka hey, it's a good day to die' — SAN QUENTIN, California (AP) — In the end, California's oldest condemned inmate did not seem quite as feeble as his attorneys made him out to be in their efforts to save his life.
Discussion:
IMAO
Debbie Schlussel:
Who's Behind the ACLU NSA Lawsuit . . . And Why Are They Lying? — You've heard a lot about the ACLU lawsuit since its filing yesterday. — But you haven't heard much about its less famous plaintiffs, plaintiffs with whom I'm all too familiar and about whom I've written a great deal.
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Garance Franke-Ruta / TAPPED:
THE LAMENESS OF THE LEFT. This may seem like one of those small intra-New York left controversies, and yet it is the kind of thing that happens so frequently in so-called progressive circles around the country that it's worth noting, because it's just this kind of thing that makes people wonder …
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Toronto Star:
Liberals scramble after Hargrove calls Harper separatist — Martin forced to issue statement praising Tory leader's patriotism — LONDON, Ont. — The Liberals are in full damage control this afternoon after a high-profile campaign endorsement by the head of Canada's largest private-sector labour union turned disastrous.
John / AMERICAblog:
Washington Post ombudsman says she will no longer reply to critics — The Washington Post's ombudsman has announced she's no longer going to reply to critics. So what exactly is the Washington Post paying this woman for? — The Washington Post's new ombudsman has come under some criticism …
tcsdaily.com:
The Great Train Razzia — Paris 5 January 2006 — French opinion makers are against the clash of civilizations the same way they are against the war in Iraq: fervently sure of their own moral superiority. But reality has a way of its own, and the Great Train Razzia that rang in the New Year …
Discussion:
The American Thinker
Greyhawk / Mudville Gazette:
60 MINUTES WITH MURTHA AND ME — Hey come on in! Grab a beer, pull up a chair - you're right on time to watch the 60 Minutes Murtha interview with me. — What? You'd rather go to the Dentist? Fine, click here. — Okay, extra chair now. Sit down, show's on:
Discussion:
No End But Victory
Julian Borger / Guardian:
Official US agency paints dire picture of 'out-of-control' Iraq — · Analysis issued by USAid in reconstruction effort — · Account belies picture painted by White House — An official assessment drawn up by the US foreign aid agency depicts the security situation in Iraq as dire …
Terry Pristin / New York Times:
Developers Can't Imagine a World Without Eminent Domain — Bank of America agreed to join the developer Douglas Durst in 2003 in building a 54-story tower in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, giving a psychological and economic lift to a city that was still reeling from the destruction of the World Trade Center.
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
The 2002 INR Memo on Uranium — Via Judicial Watch, the NY Times has received the declassified version of the 2002 INR memo questioning the notion that Niger had sold 500 tons of yellowcake to Iraq. — As Eric Lichtblau explains, there is not a lot of news here; the memo was described thusly in the 2004 SSCI report: