Top Items:
Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:
Obama takes 1st step in presidential bid — WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) said Tuesday he is taking the initial step in a presidential bid that could make him the nation's first black to occupy the White House. — Obama announced on his Web site …
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Christi Parsons / Chicago Tribune:
Obama takes first step in White House bid — WASHINGTON — In an announcement weighted with history and moment, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who less than three years ago was serving in the Illinois Senate, declared today his intention to run for president. "As many of you know …
Discussion:
MyDD, Dick Polman's American Debate, The Carpetbagger Report, CNN Political Ticker and digg
Sameer N. Yacoub / Associated Press:
U.N.: 34,452 Iraq civilians killed in '06 — BAGHDAD, Iraq - Nearly 35,000 civilians were killed last year in Iraq, the United Nations said Tuesday, a sharp increase from the numbers reported previously by the Iraqi government. — Gianni Magazzeni, the chief of the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq …
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Sam Roberts / New York Times:
51% of Women Are Now Living Without Spouse — For what experts say is probably the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one, according to a New York Times analysis of census results. — In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse …
Washington Post:
Some at Guantanamo Mark 5 Years in Limbo — Big Questions About Low-Profile Inmates — Shackled at the wrists and blinded by special goggles, the first captives from the U.S. war in Afghanistan were ushered to makeshift prison cells thousands of miles from the battle …
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Fox News:
FORMER U.N. OIL-FOR-FOOD CHIEF BENON SEVAN INDICTED OVER BRIBES FROM SADDAM'S REGIME — Benon Sevan. — Former U.N. Oil-for-Food chief Benon Sevan has been indicted in New York federal court for allegedly taking bribes under the program from Saddam Hussein's regime, U.S. authorities announced Tuesday.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Blue Crab Boulevard, Wake up America, Ed Driscoll.com, A Blog For All, Atlas Shrugs, RightWinged.com and It Shines For All
Associated Press:
Castro Reportedly in Grave Condition — MADRID, Spain (AP) — Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is in "very grave" condition after three failed operations and complications from an intestinal infection, a Spanish newspaper said Tuesday. — The newspaper El Pais cited two unnamed sources …
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, QandO, The Moderate Voice, Outside The Beltway, Secular Blasphemy and The Sundries Shack
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Examiner:
Yeas and Nays: Tuesday, Jan. 16 — WASHINGTON - Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin cover people, power and politics in the beltway each weekday. Email them at yan@dcexaminer.com . — Little to head WHCA's big night — He does a mean Ronald Reagan impersonation and his imitation of Richard Nixon is legendary.
Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
Choice of Martinez sparks GOP rebellion — Rebellion is brewing among conservatives on the Republican National Committee over President's Bush's attempt to "impose" Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida as "general chairman" of the party, who favors "amnesty" for illegal aliens.
Sharon Theimer / Associated Press:
AP: Iran Gets Army Gear in Pentagon Sale — WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military has sold forbidden equipment at least a half-dozen times to middlemen for countries - including Iran and China - who exploited security flaws in the Defense Department's surplus auctions.
Discussion:
Bradford Plumer, Outside The Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, Think Progress and The Democratic Daily
Robin Toner / New York Times:
Democrats Seek the Middle on Social Issues — The promise may not outlast their political honeymoon, but Democratic Congressional leaders say they are committed to governing from the center, and not just on bread-and-butter issues like raising the minimum wage or increasing aid for education.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos, The Carpetbagger Report and Brilliant at Breakfast
Washington Post:
What Congress Can (And Can't) Do on Iraq — Congressional Democrats (and Republicans) who oppose President Bush's decision to send additional American troops to Iraq may frustrate his plan, but not — as suggested by Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn — by imposing 21,500 strings on the 21,500 new troops.
Discussion:
Balkinization, The Glittering Eye, Bitsblog, The Heretik, The Corner, GregsOpinion.com, Power Line and Firedoglake
Anne Applebaum / Slate:
Legalize It — HOW TO SOLVE AFGHANISTAN'S DRUG PROBLEM. — The British Empire once fought a war for the right to sell opium in China. — In retrospect, history has judged that war destructive and wasteful, a shameless battle of colonizers against colonized that in the end helped neither side.
progressivestates.org:
Stop the Escalation in Iraq — To: Legislators, Staff, and Interested Parties — From: Progressive States Network — Re: Preventing Escalation in Iraq — This LegAlert discusses the President's proposed escalation in Iraq, its implications for states and the nation …
Natasha Pearlman / Daily Mail:
A crowded womb — A twin leans over and kisses the cheek of her sister in a heart-warming picture that would not be out of place in any family home. — Yet these siblings are a not even born and the astonishing images have been captured on a new 'four-dimensional' ultrasound scan of the womb.
Washington Post:
Burden Set to Shift On Balanced Budget — When he takes the House rostrum next week for the State of the Union address, President Bush will list among his goals a balanced federal budget, a shift for a president who has presided over record deficits while aggressively cutting taxes.
Discussion:
The Left Coaster, Grasping Reality …, AMERICAblog, The Caucus, Balloon Juice and CorrenteWire
Cliff Schecter:
McCain Was Against War In Iraq Before He Was For It — So I began looking through some old newspaper clippings on the Gulf War for some research I have been doing, and you just wouldn't believe what I happened across. Featured prominently in one article from August of 1990 …
Discussion:
The Carpetbagger Report
Michael Slackman / New York Times:
Rice Speaks Softly in Egypt, Avoiding Democracy Push — In the days before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with officials in Egypt, the news media here were filled with stories detailing charges of corruption, cronyism, torture and political repression.