Top Items:
Larry Neumeister / Associated Press:
Blind sheik's lawyer gets 28 months — NEW YORK - Civil rights lawyer Lynne Stewart was sentenced Monday to 28 months in prison on a terrorism charge for helping a client who plotted to blow up New York City landmarks communicate with his followers. — Stewart, 67, could have faced up to 30 years in prison.
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Julia Preston / New York Times:
Lawyer, Facing 30 Years, Gets 28 Months, to Dismay of U.S. — Lynne F. Stewart, the radical defense lawyer, was sentenced yesterday to two years and four months in prison on charges that she smuggled messages from an imprisoned terrorist client to his violent followers in Egypt.
Larry Neumeister / Associated Press:
Sheik's Lawyer Gets Nearly 2 1/2 Years — NEW YORK (AP) — A firebrand civil rights lawyer who has defended Black Panthers and anti-war radicals was sentenced Monday to nearly 2 1/2 years in prison - far less than the 30 years prosecutors wanted - for helping an imprisoned terrorist sheik communicate with his followers on the outside.
Discussion:
New York Sun, All Spin Zone, Sentencing Law and Policy, Patterico's Pontifications, TalkLeft and Brainster's Blog
Will / Attytood:
Weldon: What the feds are looking for — There's an updated story from the Associated Press on the Curt Weldon investigation that says the feds actually raided six sites today — not just the home of the Delaware County Republican's lobbyist daughter and Delco GOP powerhouse Charlie Sexton …
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Washington Post:
Families Flee Iraqi River Towns On 4th Day of Sectarian Warfare — Families fled in search of safety Monday as open warfare raged for a fourth day between Shiite militias and armed Sunni men in Tigris River towns north of Baghdad. Militias allied with Iraq's Shiite-led government held sway in Balad city …
Discussion:
Andrew Sullivan, Balloon Juice, Middle Earth Journal, TAPPED, The Democratic Daily and Air America Radio
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Michael Luo / New York Times:
Iraqis Ask Why U.S. Forces Didn't Intervene in Balad — American military units joined with Iraqi forces on Monday in maintaining a fragile peace between Sunni and Shiite communities in Balad, a rural town north of the capital where an explosion of sectarian violence over the weekend left dozens dead.
Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Giant-Killer Lamont Stumbles — Democrat Will Need Republican Help to Unseat Lieberman — Democratic Senate nominee Ned Lamont and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) met here Monday for their first general election debate, and the insurgent candidate did not get one direct question …
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New York Times:
North Korean Fuel Identified as Plutonium — American intelligence agencies have concluded that North Korea's test explosion last week was powered by plutonium that North Korea harvested from its small nuclear reactor, according to officials who have reviewed the results of atmospheric sampling since the blast.
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Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
How Dare You Attack Me, And By The Way, Here Are A Couple More Disclosures — Harry Reid went on offense yesterday ... of a sort. Claiming that his failure to properly disclose his partnership with Jay Brown — an attorney with ties to a zoning-commission bribery case and reported links …
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Jeff Stein / New York Times:
Can You Tell a Sunni From a Shiite? — FOR the past several months, I've been wrapping up lengthy interviews with Washington counterterrorism officials with a fundamental question: "Do you know the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite?" — A "gotcha" question? Perhaps.
Discussion:
Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Corner, Hullabaloo, Amygdala, Shakespeare's Sister, The Peking Duck and Donklephant
Associated Press:
Venezuela blames fierce U.S. lobbying as Chavez government fails to win U.N. seat — CARACAS, Venezuela Venezuelan diplomats blamed heavy-handed U.S. lobbying for their country's failure to muster enough votes to win a U.N. Security Council seat in ten rounds of voting Monday.
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Mark Leibovich / New York Times:
Cheney Hits Heartland, and He Can Feel the Love — Grace Mosier lives with her mom and dad, goes to birthday parties, takes ballet classes and is just like a lot of other 6-year-old girls. Except that she happens to be obsessed with Dick Cheney. — "I really, really like him," says Grace …
Discussion:
The American Scene, The Peking Duck, Gawker, JustOneMinute, The Heretik and Oliver Willis
Craig Whitlock / Washington Post:
U.S. Faces Obstacles To Freeing Detainees — BERLIN — British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett last week issued the latest European demand to close down the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The existence of the prison is "unacceptable" and fuels Islamic radicalism around the world …
Gideon Alon / Haaretz:
Peretz: French UNIFIL say will fire at IAF overflights — Commanders of the French contingent of the United Nations force in Lebanon have warned that they might have to open fire if Israel Air Force warplanes continue their overflights in Lebanon, Defense Minister Amir Peretz told …
Discussion:
Yourish.com, Atlas Shrugs, Power Line, Little Green Footballs, Jihad Watch and Left I on the News
San Francisco Chronicle:
MATIER AND ROSS — Has the mayor's new girlfriend, who is only 20, been drinking? — San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's new squeeze, Brittanie Mountz, just turned 20 last month — and that raises a couple of questions about the couple's nights on the town.
Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:
Bush to sign law on terror suspects — WASHINGTON - President Bush is signing into law today new standards expediting interrogation and prosecution of terror suspects, a bill the White House says strengthens his hand in a time of war. — Bush's plan becomes law just six weeks after he acknowledged …
Discussion:
All Spin Zone, Confederate Yankee, AMERICAblog, Balloon Juice, Shakespeare's Sister and CorrenteWire
CNN:
Poll: Support for Iraq war at all-time low — WASHINGTON (CNN) — A poll conducted for CNN over the weekend suggests support among Americans for the war in Iraq is dwindling to an all-time low. Just 34 percent of those polled say they support the war, while 64 percent say they oppose it.
Washington Post:
In Close House Races, GOP Incumbents Hold Advantage in Funds — Despite a rush of campaign donations to Democrats earlier this year, Republican incumbents in highly competitive races in the House have a substantial cash advantage going into the final weeks before the midterm elections.
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Expunged Criminal Records Live to Tell Tales — In 41 states, people accused or convicted of crimes have the legal right to rewrite history. They can have their criminal records expunged, and in theory that means that all traces of their encounters with the justice system will disappear.
Eric Black / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Minnesota Poll: Wetterling is ahead of Bachmann 48% to 40% — The congressional page scandal might have influenced some respondents for the DFLer. — DFLer Patty Wetterling leads Republican Michele Bachmann 48 to 40 percent in the hot race for Congress in Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District …
Michael Luo / New York Times:
Iraq's Christians Flee as Extremist Threat Worsens — BAGHDAD, Oct. 16 — The blackened shells of five cars still sit in front of the Church of the Virgin Mary here, stark reminders of a bomb blast that killed two people after a recent Sunday Mass. — In the northern city of Mosul …
Fergal O'Brien / Bloomberg:
Bono, Preacher on Poverty, Tarnishes Halo With Irish Tax Move — Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) — Bono, the rock star and campaigner against Third World debt, is asking the Irish government to contribute more to Africa. At the same time, he's reducing tax payments that could help fund that aid.
RIGHTWINGSPARKLE:
I gotta go........ Many of you that have been reading this blog for a while have read my references to my past volunteer work. What you may not know is why I stopped volunteering except for some Church activities. Several years ago when I moved from Dallas to Houston I was burned out.
Adam Sherwin / Times of London:
Amateur 'video bloggers' under threat from EU broadcast rules — THE Government is seeking to prevent an EU directive that could extend broadcasting regulations to the internet, hitting popular video-sharing websites such as YouTube. — The European Commission proposal would require websites …