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.
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, The Carpetbagger Report, The RBC, PBD, AMERICAblog, american footprints, First Draft, Democrats.com and Ms Underestimated
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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.
Discussion:
Hot Air, protein wisdom, Hyscience, The Political Pit Bull, Riehl World View, Liberty and Justice, Wizbang and Blue Crab Boulevard
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:
The Next Hurrah, Shakespeare's Sister, A Blog For All, NewsHog, Think Progress and Political Animal
Minneapolis Star Tribune:
NWA flight disrupted; 12 arrested — A passenger on the India-bound plane — the man who first alerted the FBI to Zacarias Moussaoui five years ago — said the tense situation was handled well. — WASHINGTON - A Northwest Airlines plane flying from the Netherlands to India was escorted …
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Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:12 Passengers Detained After Plane Turns Back
Discussion:
Reuters, BBC, Say Anything, Liberty and Justice, A Blog For All, The Strata-Sphere and The Jawa Report
Greg Myre / New York Times:
Gaza Captors of 2 Newsmen Pressure U.S. — An unknown Islamic group on Wednesday issued a sweeping demand for the release of all Muslim prisoners held in the United States in exchange for two Fox News television journalists seized at gunpoint last week in Gaza.
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New York Times:
A Matter of Appearances — When Judge Anna Diggs Taylor was given the job of deciding whether the Bush administration's wiretapping program was unconstitutional, she certainly understood that she would be ruling on one of the most politically charged cases in recent history.
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Rick Weiss / Washington Post:
New Method Makes Embryo-Safe Stem Cells — Scientists have for the first time grown colonies of prized human embryonic stem cells using a technique that does not require the destruction of embryos, an advance that could significantly reshape the ethical and political debates that have long entangled the research.
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Nicholas Wade / New York Times:
In New Method for Stem Cells, Viable Embryos — Biologists have developed a technique for establishing colonies of human embryonic stem cells from an early human embryo without destroying it. This method, if confirmed in other laboratories, would seem to remove the principal objection to the research.
Hotline On Call:
Exclusive: McCain's Web Team. And Nicco Mele. — Over the past several months, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has quietly recruited for his presidential campaign some of the most influential online strategists in the country, including one of the main architects of Howard Dean's pioneering website.
Discussion:
Jesus' General
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Peter Baker / Washington Post:
Bush's New Iraq Argument: It Could Be Worse — Of all the words that President Bush used at his news conference this week to defend his policies in Iraq, the one that did not pass his lips was "progress." — For three years, the president tried to reassure Americans that more progress was being made in Iraq than they realized.
Andrew Bridges / Associated Press:
FDA Eases Limits on Plan B Sales — WASHINGTON (AP) - Women may buy the morning-after pill without a prescription - but only with proof they're 18 or older, federal health officials ruled Thursday, capping a contentious 3-year effort to ease access to the emergency contraceptive.
Lolita C. Baldor / Associated Press:
General: Iran Training Shiite Insurgents — WASHINGTON — The Iranian government is training and equipping much of the Shiite insurgency in Iraq, a senior U.S. general said Wednesday, drawing one of the most direct links by the Pentagon. — Brig. Gen. Michael Barbero also said it was too soon …
Associated Press:
Pluto gets the boot — Pluto no longer a planet, say astronomers — PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) — Leading astronomers declared Thursday that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight.
Discussion:
All Spin Zone
Victor Davis Hanson / Real Clear Politics:
Relearning Lessons in the War on Terror — From the recent Israel-Hezbollah war in southern Lebanon to the jihadists in Iraq's Sunni Triangle to the repeated efforts by Islamists across the globe to trump Sept. 11, what old lessons about terrorism are we in the West finding ourselves having to relearn?
Charles Q. Choi / LiveScience:
Study: Polar Bear Genitals are Shrinking — The icecap may not be the only thing shrinking in the Arctic. The genitals of polar bears in east Greenland are apparently dwindling in size due to industrial pollutants. — Scientists report this shrinkage could, in the worst case scenario …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Washington Post:
Allen Calls Webb Aide, Apologizes For Remark — Virginia Sen. George Allen apologized directly to S.R. Sidarth yesterday, telling the 20-year-old Democratic campaign staffer that he was sorry for offending him with remarks that have generated nationwide criticism for being racially insensitive.
Discussion:
New York Times, Sister Toldjah, The Carpetbagger Report, Alabama Liberation Front and Raising Kaine
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