Top Items:
Washington Post:
Bush Threatens Veto Against Bid To Stop Port Deal — State-Run Arab Firm Poses No Threat, President Says Amid Bipartisan Criticism — President Bush yesterday strongly defended an Arab company's attempt to take over the operation of seaports in Baltimore and five other cities …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Strata-Sphere, Eschaton, INDC Journal, The Reaction, dailykos.com, The Washington Monthly, Legal Fiction, The Next Hurrah, Right Wing News, QandO, Michelle Malkin, Hugh Hewitt, Expose the Left, Gateway Pundit, Leiter Reports, Ezra Klein, White House, Middle Earth Journal, Democratic Veteran, State of the Day and The Democratic Daily Blog
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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 …
Discussion:
Sisyphus Shrugged, Think Progress, TAPPED, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Norwegianity, Martini Republic, Jewschool and The Rude Pundit
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:
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 …
Reuters:
Bush defends ports deal, threatens veto — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Risking a showdown with the U.S. Congress, President George W. Bush threatened to veto any legislation that would block an Arab company's takeover of the management of major American seaports.
Discussion:
the talking dog, The Nation, Debbie Schlussel, The Moderate Voice, The Sundries Shack and BrothersJudd Blog
Dafydd / Big Lizards:
UAE and American Ports: a Modest Proposal — A very curious conflict has arisen between the president and most shipping experts on one side, and virtually the entire political establishment, Republican and Democrat, on the other. A British company, Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. …
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:
The Washington Monthly, Feministe, Running Scared, TalkLeft, feministing.com and Martini Republic
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Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
High Court's Newbie Rounds the Learning Curve — It was Samuel Alito's first day of school yesterday, and the new Supreme Court justice demonstrated himself to be a precocious, if sometimes too enthusiastic, pupil. — In his first day on the bench, Alito laughed obligingly at Justice Antonin Scalia's joke about river discharge.
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 …
Discussion:
Informed Comment
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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
Associated Press:
Poll: Youths Back N. Korea if Attacked — Nearly half of South Korean youths who will be old enough to vote in the country's next elections say Seoul should side with North Korea if the United States attacks the communist nation, according to a poll released Wednesday.
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Times of London:
Prosecutors say Irving jail term should be longer — Austrian prosecutors have filed an appeal against the three-year prison sentence handed to the British historian David Irving, arguing that he escaped too lightly for the crime of Holocaust denial. — Irving was left stunned and open-mouthed …
RELATED ITEM:
Daniel Finkelsteim / Times of London: The test that David Irving set me: do I really believe in the power of truth?
Elizabeth White / Associated Press:
Hecklers Disrupt Scalia at D.C. Appearance — WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia grew tired of a persistent heckler Tuesday and asked organizers of a legal seminar to do something about the outbursts - gently. — "Don't use force," Scalia told American Enterprise Institute workers …
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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, Outside The Beltway, JunkYardBlog, The Big Pharaoh and Roger L. Simon
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 …
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
From 'Connectedness' to Conflict — One of the baseline assumptions of U.S. foreign policy is that "connectedness" is a good thing. Linkage to the global economy fosters the growth of democracy and free markets, the theory goes, and that in turn creates the conditions for stability and security.
pbs.org:
Pakistan: Cold Comfort — In this week's Rough Cut, FRONTLINE/World reporter Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy travels to the center of the quake zone, where she talks with survivors and takes us into the makeshift hospitals and Islamic relief camps. Amid the already heated politics of the region …
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 …
Ryan Lenz / Associated Press:
Motorcyclists Roll to Soldier Funerals — FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - Wearing vests covered in military patches, a band of motorcyclists rolls around the country from one soldier's funeral to another, cheering respectfully to overshadow jeers from church protesters.
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.
