memeorandum: Does water STILL flow on Mars? (Daily Mail)

2:15 PM ET, December 6, 2006

Top Items:

Iraq Panel Calls Conditions 'Grave and Deteriorating' — Conditions in Iraq are "grave and deteriorating," with the prospect that a "slide toward chaos" could topple the U.S.-backed government and trigger a regional war unless the United States changes course and seeks a broader diplomatic …

Discussion: Associated Press, Firedoglake, The Strata-Sphere, The Carpetbagger Report, Townhall.com Blog's …, The Sundries Shack, liberal catnip, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Democratic Daily, Daimnation!, Air America Radio and The Heretik

Ed Henry / CNN:

Iraq Study Group: Pull most troops from combat by '08 … WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Iraq Study Group will urge President Bush to move most U.S. troops out of combat roles by early 2008, according to two sources who have seen the executive summary of the group's report.

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister, On Deadline, The American Street, The News Blog, QandO, Think Progress and The Reaction

David S. Broder / Washington Post:

A Study In Comity — Whatever the final impact of the Iraq Study Group report being issued today, for the 10 commission members this was an exhilarating experience, a demonstration of genuine bipartisanship that they hope will serve as an example to the broader political world.

Discussion: Sirotablog and Middle Earth Journal

Washington Post:

Panel To Urge Pressure On Iraq — Study Group to Present Its Report to Bush Today — The bipartisan Iraq Study Group plans to recommend to President Bush that he threaten to reduce economic and military support for Iraq's government if it fails to meet specific benchmarks intended …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Reaction, Pajamas Media, On Deadline and FP Passport

Associated Press:

Excerpts of Iraq Study Group Report — Here are excerpts from portions of the Iraq Study Group report, which was being released Wednesday: — ''The situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating. There is no path that can guarantee success, but the prospects can be improved.''

Discussion: A Blog For All, Matthew Yglesias and The Carpetbagger Report

White House:

President Bush Receives Report from the Iraq Study Group — THE PRESIDENT: I just received the Iraq Study Group report, prepared by a distinguished panel of our fellow citizens. I want to thank James Baker and Lee Hamilton and the panel members for spending a lot of time on this really difficult issue.

Discussion: Dick Polman's American Debate, AMERICAblog, Outside The Beltway, Don Surber and Brendan Nyhan

New York Times:

Panel Backs Overhaul of Iraq Policy — Saying that "the situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating," a bipartisan commission today urged stepped-up diplomatic and political efforts to stabilize that country, coupled with a shift in the mission of the American military to allow the United States to …

Discussion: Gun Toting Liberal, I think ^(link) … and Reason Magazine

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Iraq Study Group report released; Update: "Rough waters" video added!

Discussion: Time, Reuters, ABCNEWS, Right Wing Nut House, worldpublicopinion.org, Confederate Yankee and The American Mind

David Ignatius / Washington Post:
The Price of Iran's Help

Discussion: Back Talk, Ezra Klein and PrairiePundit

The Allen Report:
Exclusive: What the Baker Commission Report Recommends

Discussion: Suitably Flip and Hot Air

Jay / Stop The ACLU:
Iraq Study Group Release Report

Discussion: Ace of Spades HQ, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, PoliPundit.com, Atlas Shrugs, Scott Rosenberg's Wordyard, AMERICAblog, JustOneMinute, Unqualified Offerings and Political Animal

Rick Moran / Right Wing Nut House:
ASKING MEN TO DIE TO "MITIGATE DEFEAT"

Discussion: The Political Pit Bull, The Carpetbagger Report, Macsmind, Today in Iraq, Newsweek, jules crittenden, CNN Political Ticker, The American Street, Captain's Quarters, Marc Cooper and Flopping Aces

Lyndsey Layton / Washington Post:

Culture Shock on Capitol Hill: House to Work 5 Days a Week — Forget the minimum wage. Or outsourcing jobs overseas. The labor issue most on the minds of members of Congress yesterday was their own: They will have to work five days a week starting in January. — The horror.

Debra Burlingame / Opinion Journal:

On a Wing and a Prayer — Grievance theater at Minneapolis International Airport. … Those are the words that started it all. Six bearded imams are said to have shouted them out while offering evening prayers as they and 141 other passengers waited at the gate for their flight out of Minneapolis International Airport.

Discussion: NY Daily News, Washington Times, Power Line, QandO, The Heretik, Riehl World View, Hot Air, Captain's Quarters and Blue Crab Boulevard

The Big Trunk / Power Line:

ERRORS, OMISSIONS, INVENTIONS AND FALSEHOODS — A reader writes that he received the email message below sent by Professor Kenneth Stein of Emory University and the Carter Center. Professor Stein's expertise lies in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Discussion: Soccer Dad, BLACKFIVE, Blue Crab Boulevard, BizzyBlog, Blogs for Bush, Dean's World, The Corner, protein wisdom, Althouse and PoliPundit.com

Daily Mail:

Does water STILL flow on Mars? — Dramatic new photographs of Mars have revealed the possible existence of water on its surface. — The images - released for the first time on Wednesday by the US space agency NASA - were taken earlier this year in an attempt to unlock the secrets of the Red Planet.

Discussion: nasa.gov, Reason Magazine, Blogs for Bush and Blue Crab Boulevard

Real Clear Politics:

Interview with President Bush, Roundtable — BRIT HUME, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Welcome to Washington. I'm Brit Hume. On a day when U.N. Ambassador John Bolton resigned suddenly and the president held an important meeting with a key Iraqi Shiite political leader, Abdul Aziz al Hakim …

Discussion: The Democratic Daily

Dan Froomkin / Washington Post:
Bush Denies Reaching Out to Dad

Discussion: The Mahablog, The Democratic Daily, Brad DeLong's Semi …, NO QUARTER, The Huffington Post and Daily Kos

Washington Post:

Mary Cheney and Partner Are About to Be Moms — Mary Cheney, the vice president's openly gay daughter, is pregnant. She and her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, are "ecstatic" about the baby, due in late spring, said a source close to the couple. — It's a baby boom for grandparents Dick …

Discussion: AMERICAblog, Andrew Sullivan, Attytood, Shakespeare's Sister, Wonkette and TalkLeft

Ed At Aft / NCLB:

Build It Up — "[We have] leaks and even the occasional icicle from my computer lab ceiling, asbestos coming up off the floor, the exterior walls are crumbling. We feel forgotten ...." —a Minnesota technology coordinator — "Our school has been built on a former landfill. …

Discussion: A Shrewdness of Apes, From The T.F.A. Trenches, Joanne Jacobs and Unfogged

William Caldwell IV / Washington Post:

Why We Persevere — BAGHDAD — I don't see a civil war in Iraq. I don't see a constituency for civil war. The vast majority of the people want hope for their families, not to massacre their neighbors or divide their country. A poll conducted in June by the International Republican Institute …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Political Animal, Sic Semper Tyrannis 2006, PrairiePundit and Blue Crab Boulevard

David Rogers / Wall Street Journal:

Some Republicans Take a Scorched-Hill Tack — Leaving Budget Decisions — To Democrats Could Disrupt — New Leadership's Agenda — WASHINGTON — Like a retreating army, Republicans are tearing up railroad track and planting legislative land mines to make it harder for Democrats …