Top Items:
Washington Post:
Iraq's Deadly Surge Claims 1,300 — Morgue Figure Eclipses Other Counts Since Shrine Attack — BAGHDAD, Feb. 27 — Grisly attacks and other sectarian violence unleashed by last week's bombing of a Shiite shrine have killed more than 1,300 Iraqis, making the past few days the deadliest …
Discussion:
Confederate Yankee, A Blog For All, Bring it On!, Informed Comment, Secular Blasphemy, Booman Tribune, Obsidian Wings, CorrenteWire, Decision '08, The Wide Awake Cafe, The Moderate Voice, PoliBlog, Left I on the News, State of the Day, AMERICAblog, Democratic Veteran, IntoxiNation-News …, The Reaction, LGF Watch and Hoffmania!
RELATED ITEMS:
Reuters:
FACTBOX-Developments in Iraq, Feb. 27 — Feb 27 (Reuters) - The following are security incidents and political developments in Iraq reported on Monday, as of 2030 GMT. — U.S. and Iraqi forces are battling a largely Sunni Arab insurgency against the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government in Baghdad.
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Fourth Rail, Healing Iraq, The Counterterrorism Blog and Today in Iraq
Michael Freund / Jerusalem Post:
Exclusive: Dubai ports firm enforces Israel boycott — The parent company of a Dubai-based firm at the center of a political storm in the US over the purchase of American ports participates in the Arab boycott against Israel, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Crooks and Liars, Debbie Schlussel, IntoxiNation-News …, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, This Modern World, The American Thinker, Vital Perspective, Exit Zero, Danny Carlton, Tammy Bruce, Atlas Shrugs, TAPPED, Michelle Malkin, A CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT, Mathew Gross, Jihad Watch, This Blog Is Full Of Crap, lgf, Gay Orbit™ and Power Line
RELATED ITEM:
New York Times:
Ports Argument and Iraq Hurt Bush in a New Survey — WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 — Americans are strongly opposed to the Bush administration's agreement to allow a Dubai company to operate terminals at six American ports and are increasingly negative about the situation in Iraq, according to the latest CBS News poll.
treas.gov:
EXON-FLORIO PROVISION — The United States has traditionally welcomed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and provided foreign investors fair, equitable and nondiscriminatory treatment with few limited exceptions designed to protect national security. The Exon-Florio provision is implemented within …
RELATED ITEMS:
Christopher Lee / Washington Post:
Court Blocks DOD's New Rules for Workers — A federal judge blocked the Defense Department from implementing much of its new personnel system yesterday, handing the Bush administration a major setback in its efforts to streamline work rules and install pay-for-performance systems in federal workplaces.
Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:
Coast Guard Saw 'Intelligence Gaps' on Ports — The U.S. Coast Guard, in charge of reviewing security at ports operated by a Dubai maritime company, warned the Bush administration it could not rule out that the company's assets could be used for terrorist operations, according to a document released yesterday by a Senate committee.
RELATED ITEM:
CNN:
Coast Guard raised concerns on port deal — After hearing, GOP chairwoman calls review process 'truly flawed' — WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Coast Guard warned that "intelligence gaps" prevented a broad assessment of any security risks posed by the takeover of some U.S. shipping terminals …
Linda Greenhouse / New York Times:
Supreme Court Set to Weigh Central Election-Law Issues — WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 — The most pressing and unsettled questions in election law are those that concern the role of money, the role of race and the role of partisanship. The Supreme Court will take up all three this week.
RELATED ITEM:
Drudge Report:
BUSH CHEERS DECLINE OF MAINSTREAM MEDIA, RISE OF ALTERNATIVE PRESS — President Bush, for the first time, is hailing the rise of the alternative media and the decline of the mainstream media, which he now says "conspired" to harm him with forged documents. — "I find it interesting …
Discussion:
Atlas Shrugs, Power Line, tapscottscopydesk.blogspot.com, Brendan Nyhan, Michelle Malkin and mediabistro
Richard Cohen / Washington Post:
Bush, Speaking Up Against Bigotry — There are times when George Bush sorely disappoints. Just when you might expect him to issue a malapropian explanation, pander to his base or simply not have a clue about what he is talking about, he does something so right, so honest and, yes …
Zogby:
U.S. Troops in Iraq: 72% Say End War in 2006 — Le Moyne College/Zogby Poll shows just one in five troops want to heed Bush call to stay "as long as they are needed" — While 58% say mission is clear, 42% say U.S. role is hazy — Plurality believes Iraqi insurgents are mostly homegrown
Nina Bernstein / New York Times:
U.S. Is Settling Detainee's Suit in 9/11 Sweep — Ehab Elmaghraby in Alexandria, Egypt, with his parents in April 2004. Mr. Elmaghraby, detained after 9/11, said he settled his lawsuit reluctantly. — The federal government has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit brought …
Opinion Journal:
Meathead Economics — Hollywood liberals drive productive Californians to leave the state. — It takes hard work to drive anyone away from California's sunshine and scenic vistas, but politicians in Sacramento have been up to the task. — The latest Census Bureau data indicate that …
New York Times:
Americans Are Cautiously Open to Gas Tax Rise, Poll Shows — Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to a higher federal gasoline tax, but a significant number would go along with an increase if it reduced global warming or made the United States less dependent on foreign oil, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
Matt Stoller / MyDD:
AOL Proposes Email Tax That Will Destroy Online Organizing — Some of you might have heard that AOL is considering charging groups like Moveon and Righmarch to send email to their members who happen to be AOL subscribers. I remember in the mid-1990s I used to get spam about an 'internet tax …
David Carr / New York Times:
Franklin Foer Is Named Top Editor of New Republic — For a small outfit, The New Republic has always gone long on drama. Its changes in leadership have usually arrived in the form of rolling coups or lightning bolts from above. So it is refreshing, if a bit underwhelming …
Paul Hackett / Philadelphia Inquirer:
Culture of careerism scuttled a political bid — When I got back from Iraq last year on March 18 after a seven-month combat tour with the First Marine Division in exotic cities like Ramadi and Fallujah, my wife arranged for a small group of friends and family to meet me at the Cincinnati airport.
Discussion:
Interested-Participant
Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:
Will Cheney Retire After Mid Term Elections? — It's trial balloon time: the conservative magazine Insight, published by the company that puts out The Washington Times, has the latest now-it-can-be-told by our-sources report suggesting Vice President Dick Cheney could bow out after the mid-term elections.
