Top Items:
Carolyn Lochhead / San Francisco Chronicle:
Senate guest worker plan survives attack — Boxer, Alabama Republican fail to kill provision, but number of visas is reduced — Washington — Seldom do California's liberal Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer and Alabama's conservative Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions agree on anything.
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Tony Blankley / Washington Times:
The price of secure borders — I've always found that avoiding insanity is useful in life — which in American politics sometimes puts one in the minority. As a second proposition I would argue that when in negotiations, if he with whom you are negotiating is moving in your direction, don't walk out of the room.
New York Times:
Verizon Denies Turning Over Local Phone Data — Verizon, the country's second-largest phone company, said yesterday that it had not provided local phone records to the National Security Agency as part of efforts to compile a database of calling records to track terrorist activities.
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CBS News:
Bush Is Now A Lame Duck — CBS' Meyer: Forget November, Forget '08; President Is Done — (CBS) This commentary was written by CBSNews.com's Dick Meyer. — The great impulse of the punditocracy right now is to look at President Bush's swelling problems with the public and his party …
Discussion:
Shakespeare's Sister, AMERICAblog, The Democratic Daily Blog, chez Diva and Middle Earth Journal
Mark Tapscott / Tapscott's Copy Desk:
Conservative Battle Fatique? The "What If" Issue — More bad news for the GOP in today's edition of The Washington Post as 56 percent of the respondents to the latest Post/ABC News survey say they prefer Democrats in control of Congress. — There is a distinct, though not quite as deep …
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PittsburghLIVE.com:
'Earthquake in Pennsylvania' — TRIBUNE-REVIEW — Angry taxpayers on Tuesday tossed out the two Republican Senate leaders who helped engineer last year's legislative pay raise, an issue that apparently cost 15 House members their jobs, too. — Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Jubelirer of Altoona …
Claudia Parsons / Reuters:
INTERVIEW-US satirist Art Spiegelman tackles Danish cartoons — NEW YORK, May 16 (Reuters) - Controversial Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad have been reprinted in a U.S. magazine with commentary by leading U.S. cartoonist Art Spiegelman, who offers what he calls a "fatwa bomb meter" to rate their offensiveness.
Alex Tabarrok / Marginal Revolution:
Open Letter on Immigration — I have written an open letter on immigration reflecting the consensus opinion of economists on the major issues. In cooperation with the Independent Institute I am looking for as many signatures as possible from economists and other social scientists.
Jennifer Lin / Philadelphia Inquirer:
Paris suburb names street for cop-killer Abu-Jamal — As Philadelphians cope with another police slaying, news comes that a suburb of Paris has named a street for Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of the 1981 murder of Police Officer Daniel Faulkner. — Hundreds of supporters of Abu-Jamal attended …
David Germain / Associated Press:
Albinos Condemn 'Da Vinci' Assassin — The notion of Christ as a family man is not the only raw nerve "The Da Vinci Code" has touched. Albinos are bothered that one of their own has yet again been depicted as a villain. — Dan Brown's best seller begins its worldwide debut Wednesday …
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Sherwood Survives — Rep. Don Sherwood (R-PA), his popularity weighed down by a messy extramartial affair, narrowly survived a primary challenge from a virtual unknown with a Democratic voting history. — With more than half of the vote counted, Sherwood led challenger Kathy Scott 56 percent to 44 percent.
Robert J. Samuelson / Washington Post:
Still Dodging Immigration's Truths — President Bush's immigration speech mostly missed the true nature of the problem. We face two interconnected population issues. One is aging; the other is immigration. We aren't dealing sensibly with either, and as a result we face a future …
TCS Daily:
The Parent Trap — Not long ago we worried about baby booms and overpopulation. Now some people are worrying about a "Global Baby Bust." Writing in Foreign Affairs, Phillip Longman says it's mostly because of economics: … He's clearly right about the economics.
Associated Press:
Venezuela may sell U.S. jets to Iran, others — CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's military is considering the possibility of selling its fleet of U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets to another country, perhaps Iran, a Venezuelan military official said Tuesday.
Washington Post:
U.S. Secretly Backing Warlords in Somalia — More than a decade after U.S. troops withdrew from Somalia following a disastrous military intervention, officials of Somalia's interim government and some U.S. analysts of Africa policy say the United States has returned to the African country …
Discussion:
Air America Radio
Nathalie Malinarich / BBC:
Fighting US imperialism at City Hall — It was the second day of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's private visit to London, and his supporters were there outside City Hall to make sure he felt welcome. — Keenly awaiting his arrival after a meeting with trades unions …
Kathy Matheson / Associated Press:
Foster Quotes Eminem at Penn Graduation — PHILADELPHIA - You can add rapping to the list of Jodie Foster's talents. The Oscar-winning actress spoke Monday at the University of Pennsylvania's commencement ceremonies, ending her address with the chorus of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" from …
Ward Churchill / counterpunch.org:
A Travesty of an "Investigation" — I have received the report of the Investigative Committee of the University of Colorado and consider it a travesty. This "investigation" has all along been a pretext to punish me for engaging constitutionally-protected speech and, more generally …
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
G.O.P. Voters to Be Target of Radio Ads by Democrats — WASHINGTON, May 16 — House Democrats, trying to capitalize on conservative dissatisfaction with Republicans, are reaching out to Christian voters with radio advertisements critical of Republican proposals to overhaul Social Security.
Discussion:
The Carpetbagger Report
Alessandra Stanley / New York Times:
At White House Briefing, Polish Replaces Testiness — Tony Snow said he didn't want to "hug the tar baby," and then he did just that by using the expression in his first televised White House press briefing yesterday. — The tar-covered doll that Br'er Fox used to ensnare Br'er Rabbit …
Khaled Abu Toameh / Jerusalem Post:
Aksa Brigades threatens US, Europe — The Aksa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, on Monday threatened to strike at US and European interests in response to international sanctions on the Palestinian Authority. — The threat, the first of its kind, came as PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas …
Discussion:
Haaretz, In the Bullpen, Amygdala, Liberty and Justice, Solomonia, This Blog Is Full Of Crap, Secular Blasphemy, Blue Crab Boulevard and lgf