Top Items:
Associated Press:
Bush unaware of port deal until after approval — White House: President only learned recently of handover to Arab firm … Today show — WASHINGTON - President Bush was unaware of the pending sale of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports to a state-owned business …
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Opinion Journal:
Ports of Politics — How to sound like a hawk without being one. — Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is the latest Republican to broadcast his "independence" from President Bush on homeland security, yesterday joining Senator Lindsey Graham, Representative Peter King and numerous state politicians …
New York Times:
Bush Would Veto Any Bill Halting Dubai Port Deal — WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 — President Bush, trying to put down a rapidly escalating rebellion among leaders of his own party, said Tuesday that he would veto any legislation blocking a deal for a state-owned company in Dubai to take over the management …
New York Times:
The President and the Ports — If President Bush follows through on his threat, he'll be making a strange choice for his first veto after more than five years in office. After giving a pass to a parade of misbegotten Congressional initiatives and irresponsible budget packages …
Los Angeles Times:
Port hysteria — WHEN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TAKE homeland security seriously, it's a welcome development. Unfortunately, Tuesday's bipartisan hissy fit over the Bush administration's approval of a Dubai company's $6.8-billion deal to manage six important U.S. ports is neither serious nor welcome.
Kevin Drum / The Washington Monthly:
PORTGATE....So what's up with this Dubai port deal, anyway? I hate to say it, but I can't help but think that Bush may be right about the whole thing. Just for the record: — This isn't a matter of outsourcing a government operation to a private company.
Washington Post:Bush Threatens Veto Against Bid To Stop Port Deal
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Reaction, Daniel W. Drezner, Hullabaloo, The Strata-Sphere, Hugh Hewitt, Eschaton, Michelle Malkin, INDC Journal, The Washington Monthly, Legal Fiction, State of the Day, Expose the Left, Ezra Klein, Leiter Reports, QandO, Gateway Pundit, Democratic Veteran, Debbie Schlussel, Middle Earth Journal, The American Mind and FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog
Edward Wong / New York Times:
Blast Destroys Golden Dome of Sacred Shiite Shrine in Samarra — BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 22 - Insurgents dressed as police commandos detonated powerful explosives on Wednesday morning inside one of Shiite Islam's most sacred shrines, destroying most of the building, located in the volatile town of Samarra …
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Omar / IRAQ THE MODEL:
Holy Shia shrine bombed in Samarra. — As if we didn't have enough problems already! — The quality of the target and the timing of the attack were chosen in a way that can possibly bring very serious consequences over the country. — The situation in Baghdad is so tense now …
Discussion:
A Blog For All
BBC:
Iraqi blast damages Shia shrine — A bomb attack in Iraq has badly damaged one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, sparking furious protests. — Thousands of Iraqis have gathered at the al-Askari shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad, where two men blew up the famous golden dome in a dawn raid.
Discussion:
Mark in Mexico
Monica Davey / New York Times:
Vote Due on South Dakota Bill Banning Nearly All Abortions — PIERRE, S.D., Feb. 21 — Lawmakers here are preparing to vote on a bill that would outlaw nearly all abortions in South Dakota, a measure that could become the most sweeping ban approved by any state in more than a decade, those on both sides of the abortion debate say.
Discussion:
ACSBlog, Shakespeare's Sister, The Washington Monthly, Feministe, Running Scared and TalkLeft
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Park Song-wu / KoreaTimes:
48% of Youth Would Support N. Korea in Case of US Attack — Survey Shows Half of Young Generation Are Progressive — Almost half of juniors surveyed, who will get their first voting rights in the 2007 presidential election, said in a recent poll that South Korea should side with North Korea …
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New York Times:
President of Harvard Resigns, Ending Stormy 5-Year Tenure — Lawrence H. Summers resigned yesterday as president of Harvard University after a relatively brief and turbulent tenure of five years, nudged by Harvard's governing corporation and facing a vote of no confidence from the influential Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
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Alan M. Dershowitz / Boston Globe: Coup against Summers a dubious victory for the politically correct
Elana Schor / The Hill:
GOP Senator eyes public financing bill — Sen. George Voinovich, Ethics Committee chairman and a sometime gadfly to Republican leadership, is warming to Democratic-backed proposals for public financing of federal elections. — Voinovich (R-Ohio) told The Hill that he has met …
Mike Mosedale / City Pages:
Hell No, We Don't Blow — In the television business, there is nothing particularly unusual about a station's refusal to air an advertisement. It happens more often than you think. In the Twin Cities market, for instance, sales managers routinely reject spots for escort services …
Fox News:
The Media Fallout Continues Over VP Cheney's Hunting Accident — This is a partial transcript from "Hannity & Colmes," February 20, 2006, that has been edited for clarity. — ALAN COLMES, CO-HOST: The media fallout continues over Vice President Cheney's accidental shooting during a hunting trip over a week ago.
New York Times:
Furor Over Cartoons Pits Muslim Against Muslim — AMMAN, Jordan, Feb. 21 — In a direct challenge to the international uproar over cartoons lampooning the Prophet Muhammad, the Jordanian journalist Jihad Momani wrote: "What brings more prejudice against Islam, these caricatures or pictures …
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, USS Neverdock, Crescat Sententia, Outside The Beltway, JunkYardBlog and The Big Pharaoh
New York Times:
Force-Feeding at Guantánamo Is Now Acknowledged — WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 — The military commander responsible for the American detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, confirmed Tuesday that officials there last month turned to more aggressive methods to deter prisoners …
Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
GOP Achievers Want to Compile $5 Million for Libby Defense — A Who's Who of Republican heavy hitters and Bush administration supporters are lending their names to help raise $5 million for the defense of Vice President Cheney's former top aide in his criminal trial.
