memeorandum: Afghan heroin's surge poses danger in U.S. (Garrett Therolf/Los Angeles Times)

3:58 AM ET, December 27, 2006

Top Items:

Former President Ford dies at 93 — LOS ANGELES - Gerald R. Ford, who picked up the pieces of Richard Nixon's scandal-shattered White House as the 38th president and the only one never elected to nationwide office, has died. He was 93. — "My family joins me in sharing the difficult news …

Discussion: The Political Pit Bull, Gay Patriot, PunditGuy, The Jawa Report, Blue Crab Boulevard, Liberal Values and Riehl World View

Washington Post:

Former President Ford Dies at 93 — Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr., who became the 38th president of the United States as a result of some of the most extraordinary events in American history and sought to restore the nation's confidence in the basic institutions of government, died Tuesday.

Discussion: Reasoned Audacity, GINA COBB, The Sundries Shack and Outside The Beltway

New York Times:

Gerald R. Ford, 38th U.S. President, Dies — Former President Gerald R. Ford, who was thrust into the presidency in 1974 in the wake of the Watergate scandal but who lost his own bid for election after pardoning President Richard M. Nixon, has died, according to a statement issued late last night by his wife, Betty Ford.

Discussion: TBogg, The Democratic Daily and Matthew Yglesias

Robert L. Jackson / Los Angeles Times:

Former President Ford dies — Gerald R. Ford, who as the 38th president of the United States helped restore the nation's political stability after the trauma of the Watergate scandal, has died, his wife, Betty, announced Tuesday night. He was 93. "My family joins me in sharing …

Discussion: The Agonist, Dean's World and Done With Mirrors

Michelle Malkin:

Gerald Ford, RIP — Fox News reporting... Statement from Betty Ford: "My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, and grandfather, has passed away..." — President Ford was 93. Here's his official White House bio.

cbs4.com:

Former President Gerald Ford Dies — CBS News Interactive: About Gerald Ford — (CBS News) LOS ANGELES Gerald R. Ford, the 38th president of the United States, has died. He was 93. — "My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father …

Discussion: Attytood

Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters: Gerald Ford Passes

Steve Geimann / Bloomberg:
Gerald R. Ford, 38th U.S. President, Dies at Age 93 (Update2)

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Atlas Shrugs

The Big Trunk / Power Line:

TROOPS HALP JON CARRY IN IRAK — On his visit to Iraq, Senator Kerry apparently got something like the silent treatment from the troops who are "stuck" there. WDAY's Scott Hennen quotes a message from a friend serving in Iraq: … Scott comments:

James Taranto / Opinion Journal:

Best of the Web — Today's Video on WSJ.com: James Taranto talks to Ed Crane about the outpouring of reader responses to Charles Rangel's disparaging comments about the military. — Responding to Rangel—IX — We were left with so many unpublished letters about the U.S. military …

Discussion: PrairiePundit

Scott Hennen / areavoices.com:
A picture tells a 1000 words.....

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and Chickenhawk Express

Qassim Abdul-Zahra / Associated Press:

Court: Execute Saddam Within 30 Days — Iraq's highest appeals court on Tuesday upheld Saddam Hussein's death sentence and said he must be hanged within 30 days for the killing of 148 Shiites in the central city of Dujail. — The sentence "must be implemented within 30 days," chief judge Aref Shahin said.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Power Line, The Moderate Voice, Reuters, Riehl World View and PoliBlog (TM)

Christopher Torchia / Associated Press:
Iraq Court Upholds Saddam Death Sentence

Discussion: All Spin Zone

Christopher Torchia / Associated Press:
U.S. Deaths in Iraq Exceed 9-11 Count

Discussion: Redstate, Little Green Footballs, Liberal Values and Bill's Bites

John Reinan / Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Star Tribune being sold to private equity firm — A private equity firm has reached an agreement to buy the Star Tribune from the McClatchy Co., publisher Keith Moyer announced today. — Avista Capital Partners, an investment group focused on media, health care and energy companies …

Joshua Freed / Associated Press:
Star Tribune to Be Sold to Private Group

Discussion: Fraters Libertas

Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Strib Goes In A Half-Price Fire Sale

Discussion: Power Line

Jeffrey Gettleman / New York Times:

Islamist Forces in Somalia Are on the Retreat — Islamist forces in Somalia beat a hasty retreat today to their stronghold in Mogadishu, Somalia's battle-scared capital, crumbling faster than anyone expected after a week of attacks by Ethiopian forces. — Burhakaba, a large inland city …

Discussion: International Herald Tribune, Reuters, Time, In the Bullpen, Riehl World View, The Sundries Shack, toohotfortnr, Secular Blasphemy, Wake up America, Hot Air, PrairiePundit and Matthew Yglesias

Edmund Sanders / Los Angeles Times:
Somalia could be Ethiopia's quagmire

Discussion: Redstate and In the Bullpen

Greg Mankiw / Greg Mankiw's Blog:

Working at Cross Purposes — Consider this policy aimed to help workers at the bottom of the income distribution: — 1. A wage subsidy for unskilled workers, paid for by — 2. A tax on employers who hire unskilled workers. — Now, if you think like an economist, you might wonder about the logic of part 2 of this proposal.

Discussion: Angry Bear and Redstate

Opinion Journal:
The Wages of Growth — To lift worker incomes, cut the corporate tax rate.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Brendan Nyhan and Joe's Dartblog

Bryan Bender / Boston Globe:

Military considers recruiting foreigners — Expedited citizenship would be an incentive — An Armed Forces center in Plymouth. US officials are trying tactics to find recruits; one involves attracting noncitizens. (JULIA CUMES/ASSOCIATED PRESS) — WASHINGTON — The armed forces …

Discussion: Discourse.net, Old War Dogs, Norwegianity and Political Animal