Top Items:
Aljazeera:
Bin Laden offers Americans truce — In an audio tape broadcast on Aljazeera, Osama bin Laden has warned that al-Qaida was preparing an attack very soon, but also offered Americans a "long-term truce". — "The new operations of al-Qaida has not happened not because we could not penetrate the security measures.
Discussion:
AMERICAN DIGEST, Link Mecca, The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta, Stop The ACLU, The Counterterrorism Blog, The Mahablog, ARMAVIRUMQUE, Secular Blasphemy, THE ASTUTE BLOGGER, Dr. Sanity, AMERICAN FUTURE, The Dread Pundit Bluto, PunditGuy, danieldrezner.com, PoliBlog, Kobayashi Maru, ThreatsWatch.Org, The Uncooperative Blogger, Rantings of a Sandmonkey, Mark in Mexico and Suitably Flip
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CNN:
Purported bin Laden tape: 'It's only a question of time' — Voice warns Americans of impending attacks, offers truce — (CNN) — An audiotaped message purported to be from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden warns the American people that plans for terror attacks in the United States are under way.
Lee Keath / Associated Press:
Bin Laden Warns of Attacks, Offers Truce — CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Jazeera on Thursday broadcast portions of an audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden, saying al-Qaida is making preparations for attacks in the United States but offering a possible truce to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan.
BBC:
Text: 'Bin-Laden tape' — The pan-Arab TV station al-Jazeera has broadcast an audio tape purporting to be by al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, in which the speaker says al-Qaeda is preparing new attacks on the US. — Here is the full text of the message as broadcast.
John Hawkins / Right Wing News:
Conference Calls With The Candidates For Majority Leader — All 3 Republican Candidates for the Majority Leader spot in the House decided to do teleconferences with bloggers today. Here's a quick rundown of the calls: — 10:30 EST: John Shadegg: My questions:
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Patricia Wen / Boston Globe:
Girl in vegetative state reported to improve — DSS says it has no plan to remove feeding tube — A day after the state's highest court ruled that the Department of Social Services could withdraw life support from a brain-damaged girl, the agency said yesterday that Haleigh Poutre might be emerging from her vegetative state.
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washingtonpost.blog:
Deborah Howell Responds — I've heard from lots of angry readers about the remark in my column Sunday that lobbyist Jack Abramoff gave money to both parties. A better way to have said it would be that Abramoff "directed" contributions to both parties. — Lobbyists, seeking influence in Congress …
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Elizabeth Pineau / Reuters:
France defends right to nuclear reply to terrorism — BREST, France (Reuters) - France said on Thursday it would be ready to use nuclear weapons against any state that carried out a terrorist attack against it, reaffirming the need for its nuclear deterrent.
Discussion:
The Corner on National …, Kobayashi Maru, The Glittering Eye, Clayton Cramer's BLOG, PunditGuy and Wizbang
dailyhowler.com:
Special report—How to read literacy! — PART 3—THE MORE, THE MURKIER: What's the state of literacy among college grads? It's timely that you should ask. As we noted last week, the National Center for Education Statistics recently released a massive survey of adult literacy, the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL).
Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Clinton Cover-Up In Barrett Report: Daily News — The New York Daily News reports that the long-awaited Barrett report on the investigation into Henry Cisneros will claim that the Clinton administration actively covered up a tax-fraud case against the former HUD Secretary …
Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
Administration Lays Out Legal Case for Wiretapping Program — WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 - The Bush administration today offered its fullest defense of the National Security Agency's domestic eavesdropping program, saying that congressional authorization to defeat Al Qaeda after the Sept. 11 attacks …
Ann Scott Tyson / Washington Post:
In Iraqi Oil City, a Formidable Foe — Airborne Soldiers Struggle to Break Grip of Insurgents — BAIJI, Iraq — Pfc. Robyn Houston fires bursts of bullets into the air as his Humvee swerves around a pothole and lurches over a highway median. His convoy bears down on oncoming traffic …
Jim Brady / washingtonpost.blog:
Comments Turned Off — As of 4:15 p.m. ET today, we have shut off comments on this blog indefinitely. — At its inception, the purpose of this blog was to open a dialogue about this site, the events of the day, the journalism of The Washington Post Company and other related issues.
Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
Shrug Coverage — It was not so long ago that President Bush was bragging about his Medicare reform law, which gives senior citizens the opportunity to buy private insurance that will help pay for their prescriptions: "The days of low-income seniors having to make painful sacrifices to pay …
Associated Press:
Feds Seek Google Records in Porn Probe — SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Bush administration, seeking to revive an online pornography law struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, has subpoenaed Google Inc. for details on what its users have been looking for through its popular search engine.
Discussion:
Democratic Veteran
Thomas Joscelyn / Weekly Standard:
The Algerian Plague — THE REVELATION that Saddam Hussein's Iraq trained thousands of Islamic terrorists has important ramifications for European counterterrorism efforts. According to officials, one of the groups trained in Iraq prior to the war was al Qaeda's Algerian affiliate …
BBC:
France 'would use nuclear arms' — French President Jacques Chirac has said France would be ready to use nuclear weapons against any state which launched a terrorist attack against it. — Speaking at a nuclear submarine base in north-western France, Mr Chirac said a French response "could be conventional.
Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:
Democratic Leaders Turn to Kaine — Va. Governor Tapped to Give State of the Union Response for Party — RICHMOND, Jan.19 — Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has been tapped to give the Democratic Party's response to President Bush's State of the Union speech on Jan. 31, according to Capitol Hill sources.
