memeorandum: Wicked Witch of the West (Shakespeare's Sister)

Controversial Assignment Leads To Teacher's Resignation — SMITHFIELD, N.C. — A Spanish teacher at Smithfield-Selma Senior High School resigned this week after handing out an assignment that some students and parents said teaches hate. — Khalid Chahhou, who was in his first year of teaching …

Discussion: Inactivist, Wake up America, PoliBlog (TM), Riehl World View and Blue Crab Boulevard

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Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice: Teacher Resigns After Assignment Sparks Controversey

Michelle Malkin:
Jihadi word search puzzles... coming to a school near you?

Discussion: Scared Monkeys

BBC:

Blair accepts 'disaster' in Iraq — Tony Blair has publicly agreed with the opinion that the violence in Iraq since the 2003 invasion has been a disaster. — The UK prime minister was responding to a question by Sir David Frost in an interview on the new al-Jazeera English-language Arabic TV channel.

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Tim Shipman / Daily Mail:

Iraq is a 'disaster' admits Blair — Tony Blair admitted that British intervention in Iraq has been a disaster last night - sending shockwaves through Westminster. — In his frankest admission about the war to date, Mr Blair admitted that Western forces have been powerless to stop the descent into violence.

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Dr. Sanity, Pajamas Media and Alternate Brain

Times of London:
Blair admits Iraq is 'pretty much a disaster'

Discussion: Hot Air

Associated Press:

Leahy Seeks Documents on Detention — Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who will chair the Senate Judiciary Committee next year, asked the Justice Department to release two newly acknowledged documents, which set U.S. policy on how terrorism suspects are detained and interrogated.

Discussion: PoliBlog (TM)

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Brian Beutler / The Raw Story:
Dem judiciary leader seeks torture documents

Discussion: Democratic Underground

Thomas Sowell / Opinion Journal:

Freedom Man — Milton Friedman had both genius and common sense. — PALO ALTO, Calif.—Milton Friedman was one of the very few intellectuals with both genius and common sense. He could express himself at the highest analytical levels to his fellow economists in academic publications …

RELATED ITEMS:

Milton Friedman / Opinion Journal: Friedman's Sampler — A selection of writings from The Wall Street Journal.

Brad DeLong / Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal:
We Are Live at Salon, with an Obituary for Milton Friedman

Discussion: Freakonomics Blog and New York Times

Nico / Think Progress:

Kondracke Dubs Nancy Pelosi The 'Wicked Witch Of The West' » — Fox News host Mort Kondracke, the "left-leaning" counterpart to Weekly Standard editor Fred Barnes on Fox News' The Beltway Boys, said last night that incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) should be nicknamed the "Wicked Witch of the West."

Discussion: News Hounds

RELATED ITEMS:

Shakespeare's Sister:
Wicked Witch of the West

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and Lawyers, Guns and Money

Associated Press:

Wilson declared unofficial winner by 879 votes — Madrid refuses to concede with official vote certification still pending — Republican Heather Wilson looks safe for a fifth term in Congress. Yet her Democratic challenger refused to concede. — Wilson retained her seat …

Rob Stein / Washington Post:

A Second Pour of Good News About Substance in Red Wine — A component of red wine recently shown to help lab mice live longer also protects animals from obesity and diabetes and boosts their physical endurance, researchers reported yesterday. — The new research helps confirm and extend …

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Syrian Officials and Iraq Study Group Met, Envoy Says — Vice President Dick Cheney and James A. Baker III, co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group, after a White House meeting. The Syrian ambassador says Mr. Baker discussed how Syria might help in Iraq. — James A. Baker III …

Jeremy Greenstock / Washington Post:

Turning A Corner On Iraq — Avoiding defeat in Iraq is an unavoidably critical national interest — for the United States as for Britain. If potentially lethal enemies are strengthened and re-motivated, the consequences will haunt us long after the headlines about withdrawal have faded.

Discussion: NewsHog

Matt Stoller / MyDD:

Houston Police Run Over Striking Janitors with Horses — Houston police trampled on striking janitors with horses last night. The janitors make on average $20 a day with no health insurance. The companies responsible? Chevron. And Hines Interest, the city's largest hometown building owner.

Discussion: NewsHog, Confined Space and Making Light

NY Daily News:

Pelosi's bruising — Wins top job but loses in nasty fight over No. 2 — WASHINGTON - Democrats unanimously chose Nancy Pelosi as House speaker, but she still came away a loser after her handpicked choice for majority leader, Rep. John Murtha, was hammered by Rep. Steny Hoyer.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi / The Huffington Post:

Bringing the War to an End is my Highest Priority as Speaker — This morning, I visited our brave men and women at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center. It is a place of prayers, of honor, of respect, and reflection. And I left there more committed than ever to bringing the war to an end.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Gateway Pundit, Hullabaloo, Beltway Blogroll, The Democratic Daily, The Hill Blog, Alabama Liberation Front, Firedoglake, Decision '08 and Eschaton

Christian Wüst / Spiegel Online:

Not as Green as it Seems — BMW is manufacturing the first series of hydrogen fueled cars. They're not as green as they seem. For a start, they're incredibly thirsty — and they will put more strain on the environment than a heavy diesel truck. — There's a new method for fueling cars.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters