Top Items:
Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:
Some in G.O.P. Say Iran Threat Is Played Down — Some senior Bush administration officials and top Republican lawmakers are voicing anger that American spy agencies have not issued more ominous warnings about the threats that they say Iran presents to the United States.
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Jerusalem Post:
Report: Iran planning nuclear 'surprise' — A senior official in Teheran said Wednesday that in the next few days, a "surprise" was expected regarding Iran's nuclear program, Al-Jazeera reported. — Teheran's apparent refusal to suspend uranium enrichment set the stage for a showdown at the UN Security Council later this month.
Richard Cowan / Reuters:
Congress report faults U.S. intelligence on Iran — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. intelligence community is ill-prepared to assess Iran's nuclear weapons capabilities and its intentions for developing weapons of mass destruction, a congressional report said on Wednesday.
Discussion:
Political Animal
Michael Theodoulou / Scotsman:
Israel buys nuclear subs — WITH Iran confidently defying pressure to curb its nuclear programme, Israel has signed a contract with Germany to buy two more submarines capable of firing nuclear missiles, it emerged yesterday. — Israeli security sources said the submarines are needed …
CNN:
12 arrested after Northwest Airlines turned back — Passengers 'looked into plastic bags, passed cell phones' — AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (CNN) — Dutch police said Wednesday that 12 passengers were in custody after a Northwest Airlines flight bound for Mumbai, India, returned to Amsterdam when several people on board aroused concern.
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Associated Press:
Bush: Katrina recovery will take time — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush on Wednesday cautioned against placing too much importance on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's Gulf Coast strike, saying it will take a long, sustained effort to rebuild the area.
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Will / Attytood:
"Rockey I": If it sounds too good to be true... The good news is that CNN seems to have finally stop obsessing over John Mark Karr. Instead, they've found a new soap opera to go ga-ga over, Katrina survivor Rockey Vaccarella, who drove his FEMA trailer from his home in ravaged St. Bernard Parish …
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
E&P editor attacks bloggers over Reutersgate (Update: Zombie explodes the ambulance incident) — I was going to make the title, "E&P editor attacks bloggers over Reutersgate, misrepresents pretty much everything," but his article's only the first of two parts.
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Greg Mitchell / Editor and Publisher:
In Defense of War Photographers — With most others in the mainstream media silent, I rise here in support of the overwhelming number of press photographers in the Middle East who bravely, under horrid conditions, in recent weeks have sent back graphic and revealing pictures from the war zones …
Think Progress:
FACT CHECK: Ned Lamont Does Not Support 'Immediate Withdrawal' From Iraq — People have the right to disagree about what should be done in Iraq. This is part of a healthy political debate. What isn't healthy is distorting someone's position to score political points.
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Michael Noer / Forbes:
Don't Marry Career Women — Guys: A word of advice. Marry pretty women or ugly ones. Short ones or tall ones. Blondes or brunettes. Just, whatever you do, don't marry a woman with a career. — Why? Because if many social scientists are to be believed, you run a higher risk of having a rocky marriage.
Joan Vennochi / Boston Globe:
Bush clings to a lost cause in Iraq — George W. Bush sounds increasingly like your average defiant teenager. The teenager won't clean his room, and the president won't leave Iraq. — The president's latest news conference was another installment of rebel with a cause that a shrinking number of Americans believe in.
Discussion:
Wizbang, Middle Earth Journal, The Democratic Daily, Liberal Values and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog
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Simon Caldwell / Daily Mail:
Pope sacks astronomer over evolution debate — Pope Benedict XVI has sacked his chief astronomer after a series of public clashes over the theory of evolution. — He has removed Father George Coyne from his position as director of the Vatican Observatory after the American Jesuit priest …
Scott Winship / Strategist:
The Uninformed Bloc — I know what you're thinking. I've failed to keep the faith. I've made a mockery of the "daily" in "Daily Strategist". I've been out lollygagging, making the rounds of the D.C. cocktail circuit. But lemme explain. There was a much needed trip to Boston …
WWB / Blog P.I.:
L'Affaire GoldFrisch III: We All Knew This Was Coming — This post was co-written with Tim Dreier of The One-Handed Economist; both of us are graduates of the University of Oregon in Eugene, where Deb Frisch once taught and now lives. As a matter of full disclosure, we've had a few scrapes …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, Ace of Spades HQ, protein wisdom, Sister Toldjah, The Jawa Report, Hot Air and Blue Crab Boulevard
Associated Press:
New 'Survivor' Divides Groups by Race — Get ready for a segregated "Survivor." Race will matter on the upcoming season of the CBS show as contestants will be divided into four tribes by ethnicity. That means blacks, whites, Latinos and Asians in separate groups. — The announcement was made on CBS' Early Show.