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:
Captain's Quarters, ThreatsWatch.Org, Confederate Yankee, The Heretik, The Washington Monthly, Sensible Mom, A Blog For All, Gina Cobb, In the Bullpen, Gina Cobb, The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta, The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, On The Third Hand, protein wisdom, Sweetness & Light, The Strata-Sphere, Sweetness & Light and Free Thoughts
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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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Jeffrey H. Birnbaum / Washington Post:
Loophole in Lobbying Bill Leaves Wiggle Room — Lawmakers are about to bombard the American public with proposals that would crack down on lobbyists. Several prominent plans, including one outlined yesterday by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), would specifically ban meals and privately paid travel for lawmakers.
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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 — Widespread Difficulties With New Medicare Benefit Reported — President Bush's top health advisers will fan out across the country this week to quell rising discontent with a new Medicare prescription drug benefit that has tens of thousands of elderly …
Discussion:
firedoglake, Obsidian Wings, Crooks and Liars, 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, Stop The ACLU, ACSBlog, The Mahablog, Balloon Juice, Donklephant and Althouse
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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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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
James Webb / New York Times:
Purple Heartbreakers — IT should come as no surprise that an arch-conservative Web site is questioning whether Representative John Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who has been critical of the war in Iraq, deserved the combat awards he received in Vietnam.
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.
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.
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.
ACLU:
Statement - Christopher Hitchens, NSA Lawsuit Client — Although I am named in this suit on my own behalf, I am motivated to join it by concerns well beyond my own. I have been frankly appalled by the discrepant and contradictory positions taken by the Administration in this matter.
Discussion:
Debbie Schlussel, Power Line, The Strata-Sphere, The Moderate Voice, Donklephant and Andrew Sullivan
U.S. Newswire:
Leading Conservatives Call for Extensive Hearings on NSA Surveillance; Checks on Invasive Federal Powers Essential — Contact: Laura Brinker, 202-715-1540, for Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, laura.brinker@dittus.com — WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 /U.S. Newswire …
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 …
